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18th JAFF | Jogja-Netpac Asian Film Festival 2023

Award Winners

Hanoman Awards

Hanoman Awards is a feature-length competitive program for established directors and upcoming young talent who hold the future of Asian cinema. 

Golden Hanoman

MONISME

Riar Rizaldi | Indonesia, Qatar | 2023

Monisme is incredibly assured feature debut. The jury was unanimous in our appreciation of the film, in particular we admired the bold experimentation, the bravery of its movement between genres and different types of footage. Monisme is a complex story that can only be told through the medium of cinema and heralds a very exciting cinematic voice in contemporary cinema.

 

Silver Hanoman

OASIS OF NOW

Chia Chee Sum | Malaysia, Singapore, France | 2023

The jury was deeply moved by this film which shows great confidence and restraint in its direction. The beautiful cinematography manages to capture a huge range of emotions without obvious explanation. Oasis of Now makes expert use of the long-take – taking a long shot is easy but making it effective is very difficult. A film of powerful social realism told through a poetic lens.

 

Jury Special Mention

DREAMING & DYING

Nelson Yeo | Singapore, Indonesia | 2023

Playful and imaginative, Dreaming and Dying brings a deceptive simplicity to examine the interior lives of its protagonists. The jury admired the films technical craft and terrifically directed performances.

 

NETPAC Award

NETPAC Award aims to read the diverse Asian perspectives from the first or second work of directors who hold the future of Asian cinema.

WHICH COLOUR?

Shahrukhkhan Chavada | India | 2023

 
The film rekindles our love with the best of storytellings: its simplicity is visceral, its drama is contagious, and its imperfection is its weapon. In the background, the film reminds us that the world was changing in 2002 without us knowing it, and a part of it began in Ahmedabad. In the foreground, it is anchored in a day in the life of an uprooted family, where temporary is constant. Once the camera is made unhidden, awakened by the gaze of a child, we become a part of the story. At its heart, it is the world of our unsung heroes: fathers, mothers, children, and friends. Now, its colorful future carries our collective hope.
 
 

JAFF-Indonesian Screen Awards

This is a feature-length competitive program of the Jogja-NETPAC Asian Film Festival for established filmmakers and upcoming young talent who hold the future of Indonesian cinema. This section will have 6 awards; Best Film, Best Director, Best Storytelling, Best Cinematography, Best Performance and Best Editing

Best Film

THE DRAFT! (SETAN ALAS!)

Yusron Fuadi | Indonesia | 2023

The Jury is proud to present the best prize for best film to The Draft! (Setan Alas!), for the sustained success in juggling comedy and horror as meta-commentary about the pains and ultimately, joy of filmmaking. A genuine love letter to horror cinema, the indisputable hallmark of genre filmmaking in Indonesia.

 

Best Directing

Ismail Basbeth – Sara

With a confident and precise cinematic style that embraces brilliant mise-en-scène, the film stays close to an individual’s determination and inner conflicts. The filmmaker offers us a window into the lives of the people living in the countryside, where the oppressive structure still remains, while the people’s values are also changing.
 
 

Best Storytelling

Anindita Suryarasmi, Yusron Fuadi – The Draft! 

Since each film genre has its own tropes and criteria, judging which film has the best storytelling is difficult when the entries are from different genres. Therefore, The Jury has based its decision on the grounds that the best storytelling delivers fresh and creative ideas for taking the narrative through unpredictable turns to the very end. So the award for best storytelling goes to Setan Alas or The Draft!
 

Best Performance

Irma Novita Rihi – Women from Rote Island

In this beautiful portrait of the people in Rote Island, the thoughtful reflection on how women’s lives and other values are sacrificed sheds a light on the mechanism of human exploitation. The actresses’ performance has a vital role in the film, and the acting of Irma Rihi as Martha is especially outstanding.

Best Cinematography

Joseph Christoforus Fofid – Women from Rote Island

Apart from being visually stunning, the cinematography in this film plays a vital role in slowly unfolding the narrative and bringing the emotional world of the characters to the forefront through its utilization of long takes. For its capacity to elicit extraordinary and palpable emotions with each immersive scene, the Jury is proud to present the award for best cinematography to Women From Rote Island.
 

Best Editing

Ridwan AB, Yusron Fuadi – The Draft!

Film editing is often called the invisible art. However, SOMETIMES, when the right script and idea comes along, editing comes out of its comfort zone to take part in the film as a character. For the full utilisation of the craft of editing with mastery, precision and wit, the prize of editing goes to Setan Alas!
 

Geber Award

Geber Award is given to the best Asian film from the first or second work of directors who hold the future of Asian cinema, chosen by the representatives of film communities around Indonesia. This award is a form of a statement by the Indonesian film community to show their perspectives regarding marginalized and/or controversial issues.

ABANG ADIK

Jin Ong | Malaysia | 2022

All films in the main competition at JAFF18 possess their own strengths and uniqueness that are challenging to compare. The jury strives to select one of them after viewing all, considering various aspects. These films present ideas about the complexity of experiences within marginalized groups (minorities, immigrants, and individuals with disabilities) in the socio-cultural context of Asian society, closely related to Indonesia. It is particularly close because we see our own faces there. The storytelling aligns with what appears on the screen, bringing viewers to feel the complete intimacy of fragile yet strengthening human relationships. Sensitivity to the chosen context as the concept for his debut feature film and its successful realization in cinema form make us prioritize selecting “Abang Adik” as the recipient of the Geber Award at JAFF18 in 2023.
 
 

Blencong Award

This is an in-competition program for Asian short films that will be eligible to compete for Blencong Award for the best Asian shorts.

HITO

Stephen Lopez | Phillipines | 2023

Within its 22 minutes duration, HITO managed to tell a story with a bold political undertone packaged as a coming-of-age, sci-fi tale. Stephen Lopez creatively used film medium and film language to its maximum potentials, entertaining almost all sensory experience of the audience.
 
 

JAFF-Students Award

JAFF-Students Award is given to the best Asian shorts in the Light of Asia program. The winner is chosen by the representatives of film students in Yogyakarta.

 

THE RIVER THAT NEVER ENDS

JT Trinidad | Phillipines | 2022

Sometimes we rarely side with our own feelings. Often we feel there is nothing wrong with being someone else,so that the people around us don’t feel lonely.The continuous depiction of loneliness, accompanied by a narrative style full of emotional layers provides a fascinating emotional dimension for the audience