BAFF. The wrap-up.

Sadly, time's up. Though there are re-runs today and a masterclass with Christopher Doyle, BAFF 2006 ended on Saturday with the screening of Wuji (The Promise) by Chen Kaige.

The jury for the Official Section - multimedia artist Carles Congost, writer and film director David Trueba, film and literature critic Sergi Sànchez, actress Konkona Sen Sharma and SFIAAFF director Chui Hui-yang - have decided unanimously to grant the Durian de Oro (and with it, 6000 euros courtesy of Casa Asia) to Zhang Lu's Grain in Ear for "its special visual composition, its narrative economy and the impact of its emotional nudity." It's Only Talk didn't slip away empty-handed; it warranted a special mention for "the richness in the construction of its characters." The complete list of winners will be listed soon on the festival site.

The numbers aren't in, but BAFF organizers think that attendance this year could surpass 20,000, even more than last year. Many screenings were sold out and incredibly long lines formed in front of doors wherever BAFF was being celebrated. This success offers hope for the distribution of Asian films in Spain and, by extension, all of Europe. We're used to reading about all these enigmatic and intriguing films and then waiting impatiently for them to appear on DVD. Let's keep our fingers crossed in the hope that we'll be seeing them sooner - and on the big screen.

Posted by dwhudson at May 7, 2006 11:14 AM