The Pusan International Film Festival (PIFF)gave awards tothree films in its New Currents section of up-and-coming Asian directors, which is the only competitive section of the festival.

The three films, which were awarded with $30,000 each, were Life Track by Guang Hao Jin (China/Korea), Flower In The Pocket by Seng Tat Liew (Malaysia) and Wonderful Town by Aditya Assarat (Thailand).

Iranian director Dariush Mehrjui headed the jury, joined by Chinese actress Yu Nan, directors Cristian Mungiu from Romania, Goran Paskaljevic from Serbia and Lee Chang-dong from Korea.

The jury's decision reportedly came after almost ten hours of deliberations and at the press conference Friday morning, jury president Mehrjui mentioned three other films which had generated positive reactions but failed to win any prizes: Filipino slum kid drama Tribe, the well-liked Japanese drama Asyl, and the religion-questioning God Man Dog from Taiwan.

The jury noted Life Track was 'a tragic human story that not only delves into the instincts of human nature, but also reveals a courageous way of filmmaking', while Flower In The Pocket was 'a touching and humanistic story that tells a neglected father-and-sons relationship with a good sense of humor, while using a simply and beautifully composed cinematic style.'

Wonderful Town, perhaps the most widely liked film for most festival critics and programmers this year, was dubbed 'the rendering of a simple and fluent love story made realistically with a cinematically impressive and rigorous style.'

Despite typhoon warnings and lashings of intermittent rain this year, the festival boasted the highest attendance record in its 12-year history at 198,603 admissions.

Running from Oct 4 -12 with 271 films from 64 countries in 770 screenings, the fest saw 65 world premieres and 26 international premieres.

PIFF also won the Fellini Medal from UNESCO from 'for its contribution to cultural diversity in the world.'

Full list of winners:

1) New Currents Award

Life Track by Guang Hao Jin (China/Korea)

Flower In The Pocket by Seng Tat Liew (Malaysia)

Wonderful Town by Aditya Assarat (Thailand)

2) FIPRESCI Award:

The Red Awn by Shangjun Cai (China)

3) NETPAC Award:

Hello Stranger by KIM Dong-Hyun (Korea)

With A Girl Of Black Soil by Jeon Soo-il (Korea)

4) KNN Audience Award

Flower In The Pocket by Seng Tat Liew (Malaysia)

5) Sonje Award

Woong's Story by Lee Ha-song (Korea)

A Man Under The Influenza by Jung July (Korea)

6) Woonpa Award

Tear Drops by Mun Jeong-hyun (Korea)

Topics