SHORT SHORTS FILM FESTIVAL & ASIA 2015

Best Actor / Best Actress Award

International Competition

Best Actor Award

Winner: Peter Faulkner
All The Pain In The World
Tommaso Pitta/UK/12:30/Comedy/2014
A man, alone on Christmas, stops in a pet store to let the owners know that one of their fish is choking between the glass and a plant. The ill-fated fish is choking to death. Does nobody care?! As the man insists, the situation slowly spirals out of control…

Winner’s Comment

Hello. It’s Peter Faulkner here from “All the Pain in the World.” And I’m feeling all the delight in the world.
I’m very honored that you’ve awarded me the best actor award – it’s great, thank you so much.

I’d like to really thank from the bottom of my heart the Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia, and I’d like to thank my fellow actors if I may, Cornelius Clark and Philippa George, and all the crew and the production team. It was a true pleasure to work on the film. And obviously a big thank you to Tommaso Pitta for directing us with such grace and style, and for providing the brilliant script. It was great, great fun to work on. So, that’s it, as you can see the animals are all well, the fish wasn’t harmed in the making of the film. And all that remains for me is to send you warmest regards and thank you. All the best.

Bye!

Best Actress Award

Winner: Nelli Tsay
The Salt of the Earth
Jonathan Desoindre/France/18:00/Fiction/2014
Vincent and Diane, thirty-something Parisians, have decided to get married. Vincent brings his fiancée back to his hometown but his family shows some hostility. The situation escalates when, at a hunting game, Diane is accidentally wounded…

Winner’s Comment
I am totally in shock! This is very beautiful news… Thank you very much for this appreciation. It is a very important moment for me. As soon we are calming down and being connected to our own truth and we are surrounding to everything that is around us we have that kind of present! It was one the most beautiful shooting of my life. Jonathan is a very special director it was a true pleasure working with him! Thank you very much!

ASIA International Competition

Best Actor Award

Winner: Yu Wang
Cloud & Mud
A Cheng Dong/China/14:47/Drama/2014
A murderer in rags comes to town. Overtaken by hunger he stands paralyzed in front of a steamed bun shop where the owner is preparing delicious warm buns. What happens next alters the course of both their lives.

Winner’s Comment

When the director called to tell me that I won the Best Actor Award, I was in Shanghai to participate in Shanghai International Film Festival. Hastily hung up the phone, sitting in the chair, I just felt my lips trembling.
This is the highest honor for an actor. I repeated deep breathing for several times to calm down myself. And after that I called the director again to confirm this good news, then share it with all my friends! What a day!
I want to thank Japanese audience. Although we have never met ,we communicated emotionally in every image of the film. How eagerly I wish this film can touch your heart!
Thanks SHORT SHORTS FILM FESTIVAL for giving me this award. Most importantly, I want to thank Mr.Dong A Cheng,the director of this film, I appreciate for your trust.
I also want to thank all the staff behind the scenes of Cloud & Mud. You made this happen.
Thanks again, dear Japanese audiences who love this film. Please let an ordinary actor from China say thank you to you.

Best Actress Award

Winner: Wu Ke-xi
The Palace On The Sea
Midi Zhao/Taiwan/15:30/Drama/2014
A boat is anchored in the harbor. A ghost of a woman who came from afar has been lingering nearby, searching for the way home.
Winner’s Comment

This is the first acting award I have received after more than ten years of performance. I didn’t think about whether I would be given an award or not during SSFF, because every time I watched myself on the big screen , I would always find numerous flaws in my performance. My heart would skip a beat and I would think to myself, “I wish I could do that take just one more time!”.

My sincere thanks to all the juries for giving me this award which is a huge encouragement. I believe that when I perform, my personality, as well as my enthusiasm and persistence as an actress is channeled into the character I play and can be seen by the audience.

I also want to thank my family for giving me unlimited freedom to do whatever I want, my agency, Kaohsiung City Government ,the whole “The Palace On The Sea” crew, Wang Shin-Hong, Fan Sheng-Xiang, Jacky, Peter Chen, Chou Cheng, Morgan, Sheng-Wen, Yon Chaw and director MIDI Z, who believed in me.

I will keep working hard, keep discovering more about myself and the world, and share all of it with the audience.

JAPAN Competition

Best Actor Award

Winner: Shinnosuke Fukushima
A Warm Spell
Toshimichi Saito/Japan/25:00/Drama/2014
Nao gave up his dream of painting to take over the family-run post office. His older brother, Masanobu, left home to become a doctor. When their mother’s funeral brings the two brothers together again, they are forced to confront their old conflicts and resentments.

Winner’s Comment
It is a great honour to win this special award at such a wonderful film festival. I would like to thank the wonderful staff, cast and especially the director, who brought out the best in my performance. This award is for everyone who was involved in “A Warn Spell.” I sincerely hope that this is an opportunity for the film to reach out and speak to even more audiences. Thank you.

Best Actress Award

Winner: Minori Ichiyanagi
camouflage
Daishi Kato/Japan/24:47/Drama/2014
Because of his stutter, Satoru is the constant victim of bullying. His classmate Eri is sympathetic, but turns a blind eye in order to fit in with her friends. As the teasing gets worse, Eri decides to make a housecall, but her visit to Satoru’s doesn’t turn out as planned…

Winner’s Comment
I’m so honored to receive this award. The character Eri is a girl who lives with repressing true her. Acting such a girl was kind of challenging to me.

Eri and I are the same age, and it helps me to understand her. I could imagine her thoughts and feel from the plot. More than anything else, thanks to Mr. Kato, the director, respect what I think of Eri, I could play her very freely with fun. It is glad if I could play many characters in good harmony with myself in the future.