Japanese, Thai films split prize
Two films, one from Japan and the other from Thailand, shared the top honor for foreign films at the 43rd Thessaloniki International Film Festival’s yesterday. The Golden Alexander (carrying a 36,700-euro prize) was shared between Japanese director Hidenori Sugimori’s «Woman of Water» and «Blissfully Yours» by Thailand’s Apichatpong Weerasethakul. The Silver Alexander (22,000 euros) went to «Bungalow» by Germany’s Ulrich Kohler. Mexico’s Carlos Reygadas was voted Best Director for «Japon» and Czech director/screenwriter Alice Nellis received the Best Screenplay award for «Some Secrets.» Manca Dorrer was voted Best Actress for her role in the Slovenian film «Blind Spot,» while Greece’s Christos Stergioglou received the Best Actor award for roles in two entries: Penny Panayiotopoulou’s «Hard Goodbyes: My Father» and Katerina Evangelakou’s «Think it Over.» Korea’s Min Boung-hun was given the Best Artistic Achievement award for «Let’s Not Cry,» which also gained lead actor Muhammad Rahimov a Special Mention. The awards for the festival’s Greek section will be announced tonight.
