Aktan Arym Kubat’s Black Red Yellow has won best feature at Shanghai International Film Festival’s (SIFF) Golden Goblet Awards, which also saw a raft of prizes for Chinese films.
The Kyrgyz drama centres on the romance between a traditional carpet weaver and a horse herder and was named best feature at an award ceremony on Saturday (June 21) at the Shanghai Grand Theatre.
Scroll down for full list of winners
Kubat, also known as Aktan Abdykalykov, is known for features such as The Adopted Son, which won the Silver Leopard at Locarno in 1998; The Light Thief, which screened in Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes in 2010; and Centaur, which won the CICAE award when it played in Panorama at the Berlinale in 2017.
SIFF’s jury grand prix was awarded to two films: On Summer Sand directed by Japan’s Shinya Tamada, and Wild Nights, Tamed Beasts directed by China’s Wang Tong. The former stars Joe Odagiri as a man stricken by grief after the death of his child, while the latter centres on a caregiver played by Wan Qian and grapples with issues of aging in society. Wan took home the best actress award for her role in the feature.
The award for best director went to China’s Cao Baoping for One Wacky Summer, a black comedy shot in China’s Tianjin dialect.
Further winners for China included outstanding artistic achievement for My Father’s Son by Qiu Sheng; Asian new talent best film for As The Water Flows by Bian Zhuo; Asian new talent best actor for Shi Pengyuan in Fang Liang’s Water Can Go Anywhere; and best live action short film for Crow by Xu Jianming.
Portugal’s José Martins was named best actor for his performance in The Scent of Things Remembered, directed by António Ferreira. Best documentary went to Spain’s Constanza, directed by Agustín Márquez Gómez.
SIFF’s international jury panel comprised 21 members from Asia, Africa, the Americas, and Europe, with Italian director Giuseppe Tornatore of Oscar-winning Cinema Paradiso as jury president of the main competition. Further jury members included Greek producer Thanassis Karathanos, Indian director Kiran Rao, Argentinian director Iván Fund, Chinese director and screenwriter Yang Lina, and Chinese actors Yong Mei and Hunag Bo.
On stage at the award ceremony, Tornatore described the competition films as “unique yet equally magnificent” and lamented that only one could be chosen as best feature.
This year’s awards set a new submissions record, receiving more than 2,800 entries across its five competition sections, with a notable increase from the Americas and Africa.
The 27th SIFF ran from June 13 to 22.
Shanghai IFF 2025 winners
Best feature film
Black Red Yellow (Kyrg) | dir. Aktan Arym Kubat
Jury grand prix
On Summer Sand (Japan) | dir. Shinya Tamada
Wild Nights, Tamed Beasts (China), directed by Wang Tong
Best director
Cao Baoping for One Wacky Summer (China)
Best screenplay
Korek Bojanowski/Katia Priwieziencew for Loss Of Balance (Pol) | dir. Korek Bojanowski
Best actor
José Martins in The Scent Of Things Remembered (Port-Bra) | dir. António Ferreira
Best actress
Wan Qian in Wild Nights, Tamed Beasts (China) | dir. Wang Tong
Best cinematography
Markus Nestroy for You Believe In Angels, Mr. Drowak? (Ger-Switz) | dir. Nicolas Steiner
Outstanding artistic achievement
My Father’s Son (China-Fr) | dir. Qiu Sheng
Asian new talent best film
As The Water Flows (China) | dir. Bian Zhuo
Asian new talent best director
Liryc Dela Cruz for Where The Night Stands Still (It-Phil)
Asian new talent best actor
Shi Pengyuan in Water Can Go Anywhere (China) | dir. Fang Liang
Asian new talent best actress
Meenakshi Jayan in Victoria (India) | dir. Sivaranjini J
Asian new talent best script writer
Lalith Rathnayake/Nilantha Perera for Riverstone (Sri Lanka) | dir. Lalith Rathnayake
Asian new talent best cinematography
Prabath Roshan for Riverstone (Sri Lanka) | dir. Lalith Rathnayake
Best documentary
Constanza (Sp) | dir. Agustín Márquez Gómez
Best animation film
The Songbirds’ Secret(Fr-Switz-Bel) | dir. Antoine Lanciaux
Best live action short film
Crow (China) | dir. Xu Jianming
Best animated short film
Son (Rus-Kaz) | dir. Zhanna Bekmambetova
No comments yet