\n<\/p>\n
\n\tSingaporean filmmaker Ang Geck Geck Priscilla\u2019s debut feature \u201cAh Girl<\/a>\u201d won best film in the Asian Feature Film Competition at the Singapore International Film Festival<\/a>\u2019s Silver Screen Awards on Saturday. <\/p>\n \n\tThe film follows a seven-year-old girl in 1990s Singapore whose parents have separated. Ang workshopped the project at the festival\u2019s Southeast Asian Film Lab back in 2015, and \u201cAh Girl\u201d went on to take the Youth Jury Award at the International Film Festival Rotterdam. Ang is an alumna of the Busan Asian Film Academy. Her 2012 short \u201cBroken Crayon\u201d won the Singapore Short Film Awards\u2019 best short film prize.<\/p>\n \n\tAfghan filmmaker Shahrbanoo Sadat<\/a> won best director for \u201cNo Good Men,\u201d which opened the Berlinale. Set in Kabul just before the Taliban come back to power, the drama follows a camerawoman whose work, family and freedom are suddenly in doubt. Sadat, who has lived in Germany since 2021, made the 2016 Cannes premiere \u201cWolf and Sheep\u201d and 2019\u2019s \u201cThe Orphanage.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tThe jury split the best performance prize. Pushpa Thing Lama was honored for \u201cElephants in the Fog,\u201d about a member of Nepal\u2019s third-gender Kinnar community searching for her missing daughter. Putri Marino shared the award for \u201cFour Seasons in Java,\u201d a magical realist drama about a woman who goes back to her hometown after two decades behind bars.<\/p>\n \n\tThe Special Jury Prize went to Japanese director Nagahisa Makoto\u2019s \u201cBurn,\u201d his second feature, which premiered at Sundance. Nagahisa won awards at the same festival for his short \u201cAnd So We Put Goldfish in the Pool\u201d (2017) and his feature \u201cWe Are Little Zombies\u201d (2019).<\/p>\n \n\tIn the Southeast Asian Short Film Competition, Yogyakarta-based artist-filmmaker Arief Budiman\u2019s \u201cGolden Island\u201d was named best Southeast Asian short. The film, which competed at Rotterdam, follows a videographer from Java and another from Papua as they make a film about Papua together. Thai director Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke won best director for \u201cThe Bovine Comedy,\u201d a Locarno premiere set in a 2036 where cows have nearly died out. His feature debut \u201cA Useful Ghost\u201d (2025) won the Critics\u2019 Week Grand Prize at Cannes and received a special mention at SGIFF.<\/p>\n \n\tGerman-Indonesian filmmaker Berthold Wahjudi took the shorts Special Jury Prize for \u201c\u2018Vaterland\u2019 or A Bule Named Yanto,\u201d which premiered in Cannes\u2019 Critics\u2019 Week. Sarah Lingam won best performance for \u201cFlame of the Forest,\u201d about a young nurse who returns home and is blamed for her grandmother\u2019s death. Singaporean experimental animator Exyl\u2019s \u201cSingapore God\u201d was named best Singapore short.<\/p>\n \n\tThe Audience Choice Award went to Singapore Panorama Programme 2, \u201cSecond Life, Second Skin,\u201d a package of five shorts: Shara Tay\u2019s \u201cKiss Me Climax,\u201d Ash Goh Hua\u2019s \u201cSubterranea,\u201d Syahmi Iman\u2019s \u201cReanimator,\u201d Leon Cheo\u2019s \u201cOrang Minyak\u201d and Ewan Leong\u2019s \u201cEncik.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tPrizes were also handed out at the SGIFF Pro Pitching Forum, held Oct. 30. \u201cAgape,\u201d from Yamaguchi Shin and Miyahara Takuya, won the SGIFF Pro Pitching Forum Award. The SGIFF Pro Pitching Forum Award (Asian Producers Network) went to L\u1ec7 Di\u1ec5m H\u00e0\u2019s \u201cDear Son An.\u201d Tong Khoon Mun and Zhou Ke Xin\u2019s \u201cBeg, Borrow, Steal\u201d won the SGIFF Abroad Award supported by Sony, and Sam Chua Weishi and Rein Maychaelson\u2019s \u201cPrimal\u201d received the SGIFF Abroad Award.<\/p>\n \n\tEarlier in the festival, Indian star Aamir Khan received the SGIFF Screen Icon Award from Peter Chan during an In Conversation With session<\/a> on Oct. 22. Kore-eda Hirokazu, who released two features this year, \u201cSheep in the Box\u201d and \u201cLook Back,\u201d was presented with the SGIFF Cinema Honorary Award<\/a> by Boo Junfeng on Oct. 24.<\/p>\n \n\tThe ceremony took place at the Singtel Waterfront Theatre on the penultimate day of the 37th SGIFF, which runs through Nov. 1. Launched in 1991, the Silver Screen Awards was the first international film competition to include a dedicated section for Asian cinema.<\/p>\n \n\tThe full list of winners:<\/p>\n \n\tASIAN FEATURE FILM COMPETITION \n\tSOUTHEAST ASIAN SHORT FILM COMPETITION \n\tAUDIENCE CHOICE AWARD \n\tSGIFF PRO PITCHING FORUM AWARDS
<\/strong>Best Film: \u201cAh Girl\u201d \u2013 Ang Geck Geck
Best Director: Shahrbanoo Sadat \u2013 \u201cNo Good Men\u201d
Best Performance: Pushpa Thing Lama \u2013 \u201cElephants in the Fog\u201d; Putri Marino \u2013 \u201cFour Seasons in Java\u201d
Special Jury Prize: \u201cBurn\u201d \u2013 Nagahisa Makoto<\/p>\n
<\/strong>Best Southeast Asian Short Film: \u201cGolden Island\u201d \u2013 Arief Budiman
Best Director: Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke \u2013 \u201cThe Bovine Comedy\u201d
Special Jury Prize: \u201c\u2018Vaterland\u2019 or A Bule Named Yanto\u201d \u2013 Berthold Wahjudi
Best Performance: Sarah Lingam \u2013 \u201cFlame of the Forest\u201d
Best Singapore Short Film: \u201cSingapore God\u201d \u2013 Exyl<\/p>\n
<\/strong>Singapore Panorama Program 2: \u201cSecond Life, Second Skin\u201d \u2013 \u201cKiss Me Climax\u201d (Shara Tay), \u201cSubterranea\u201d (Ash Goh Hua), \u201cReanimator\u201d (Syahmi Iman), \u201cOrang Minyak\u201d (Leon Cheo), \u201cEncik\u201d (Ewan Leong)<\/p>\n
<\/strong>SGIFF Pro Pitching Forum Award: \u201cAgape\u201d \u2013 Yamaguchi Shin, Miyahara Takuya
SGIFF Pro Pitching Forum Award (Asian Producers Network): \u201cDear Son An\u201d \u2013 L\u1ec7 Di\u1ec5m H\u00e0
SGIFF Abroad Award supported by Sony: \u201cBeg, Borrow, Steal\u201d \u2013 Tong Khoon Mun, Zhou Ke Xin
SGIFF Abroad Award: \u201cPrimal\u201d \u2013 Sam Chua Weishi, Rein Maychaelson<\/p>\n