Derek Tsang’s youth drama “Better Days” was awarded the top prize, a Golden Mulberry, at the Festival of Far East Film in Udine, northern Italy. The festival was largely online, and the prizes selected by an audience which both viewed the films and voted electronically.
Some 25,000 votes were cast for the audience award, by 3,000 accredited pass holders in 45 countries. And “Better Days” also collected the Black Mulberry prize, voted on by Shogun or hard-core festival attendees.
Other prizes went to: Malaysian director Layla Ji’s debut film “Victim(s),” which had its world premiere at the festival; Taiwanese pop fairy tale “I WeirDo,” by Liao Ming-yi, which collected the Crystal Mulberry and Mymovies Purple Mulberry awards; and Lee Sang-geun’s South Korean action-comedy “Exit,” which was named as best first film and collected a White Mulberry award.
The festival had been planned as a conventional festival beginning in late April. But the coronavirus outbreak forced organizers first to postpone and then to convert to a virtual event. —Variety
