Brillante Mendoza and a scene in “GenSan Punch” (Instagram, BIFF)
Acclaimed Filipino director Brillante Mendoza is nominated for an award at the 26th Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) slated to be held from Oct. 6 to 15 in Busan, South Korea.
The BIFF announced on Sept. 6 that Mendoza is one of the nominees for the Kim Jiseok Award, established in 2017 in honor of Kim Jiseok, one of the founding members of the festival who served as program director. Kim passed away in May 2017 due to a heart attack.
The Kim Jiseok Award “will be given to the most attractive films that reflect the contemporary standing of Asian cinema in accordance with the late Kim's intent,” according to BIFF.
Among the films selected by BIFF for its A Window on Asian Cinema section, Mendoza and six other directors have been selected as nominees for the Kim Jiseok Award. Two winners will be chosen by jurors and will receive a cash prize of $10,000 each.
Mendoza is nominated for his film “GenSan Punch.” According to BIFF, the film, “directed by master filmmaker Brillante Mendoza from the Philippines, stars Japanese actor Shogen and depicts the true story of a handicapped athlete's fight against discrimination to be recognized as a professional boxer.” GenSan is an abbreviation of General Santos City in South Cotabato.
Other nominees for the Kim Jiseok Award are Roystan Tan of Singapore for his film “24”; Japan’s Ogigami Naoko, “Riverside Mukolitta”; Azerbaijan’s Ilgar Najaf, “Sughra’s Sons”; India’s Aparna Sen, “The Rapist”; China’s Wang Qi, “The Bargain”; and Bangladesh's Mostofa Sarwar Farooki, “No Land’s Man.”
The BIFF appointed Iranian director Reza Mirkarimi as head of the jury, along with fellow jurors Gulnara Abikeyeva, Kazakhstani film critic and professor at Turan University, and Kim Haery, a Korean film critic and a member of the editing committee at CINE21 magazine.
The two winners of the Kim Jiseok Award will be announced at the closing ceremony of the 26th Busan International Film Festival on Oct. 15.