Chinese director Tao Shen’s Floating Clouds Obscure the Sun has won the best film award by a new filmmaker in the Forward Future program at the 15th edition of the Beijing International Film Festival.
”After completing her so-called ‘mission’ in life, housewife Tianzhen wants to leave her hometown and go out to see the world,” according to a synopsis. “But her actions and thoughts begin to become unpredictable.”
Johanné Gómez Terrero was honored as best director in the section for his movie Sugar Island, a reflection on the complex past, present, and future lives of Afro-Dominican people in the Dominican Republic.
And At the Bench, directed by Yoshiyuki Okuyama, won the best screenplay award in the Forward Future program. The anthology film, which shows scenes of the everyday life of various people who gather by a small bench, also received the Best Artistic Contribution honor.
Finally, the Valentino Weaving Dreams Forward Costume Design Creativity Honor was bestowed upon
The Poet, directed by Felix Umarov.
In the acting categories, Floating Clouds star Shizhen Xiang was honored as the best actress, while Jahseleh Yesl won the best actor award for his role in the second Chinese film in the section, The Botanist.
15 titles from various countries, including China, screened in the section this year. Beijing organizers touted the “innovative” spirit, “unique styles,” and “cutting-edge” filmmaking in the 2025 program of the section, along with insight into the thinking and concerns of young filmmakers from all over the world.
The Forward Future section, launched in 2014, is dedicated to discovering and promoting new filmmakers, focusing on directors’ first or second features.
Hungarian director, screenwriter, and producer Béla Tarr (Damnation, Satan’s Tango, The Man From London) served as the president of the jury for the Forward Future program. Rounding out his jury were the Chinese actress Jin Chen, also known as Gina Jin, Chinese actor Song Yang, Japanese director, screenwriter and actor Sabu, and Swiss director and screenwriter Cyril Schäublin.
The 15th edition of the Beijing festival closes on Saturday.
