Nepalese drama “White Sun” was named the top Asian feature film at the Silver Screen Awards, which concluded the 27th edition of the Singapore International Film Festival (SGIFF.)

Collecting two prizes, for best director and for best performance was Bangladeshi debut feature “Live From Dhaka,” by Abdullah Mohammad Saad.

The awards were presented at a red carpet gala on Saturday evening at the Mastercard Theater, which is part of Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands complex. On the red carpet were Chinese actress and international film festival darling Huang Lu, veteran Indian actress Seema Biswas (“Bandit Queen”,) and Taiwanese singer-actress Yu Tai-Yan.

Winner in the South East Asian short film category was “In The Year of Monkey” (aka “Prenjak”) by Wregas Bhanuteja from Indonesia.

The feature film jury, headed by Japan’s Naomi Kawase, described “White Sun” as “an

exceptional and incisive film about civil war and memory. (It) encapsulates the never-ending conflict that is the state of the world today, with a message of hope that a different future for all of us can be possible through our children.”

The festival (Nov. 24 – Dec. 4) and awards are both events that are part of the Singapore Media Festival, hosted by the Info-communications Media Development Authority of Singapore (IMDA). The SMF continues next week with the ScreenSingapore conference series and the three-day TV rights market Asian Television Forum (Dec. 7-9.)

Silver Screen Awards 2016

Best Film

“White Sun” dir. Deepak Rauniyar

Best Director

Abdullah Mohammad Saad (“Live from Dhaka”)

Best Performance

Mostafa Monwar (“Live From Dhaka”)

Honorary Award

Fruit Chan

Cinema Legend Award

Simon Yam

Best Southeast Asian Short Film

“In The Year of Monkey” (aka “Prenjak”) by Wregas Bhanuteja

Best Singapore Short Film

“Anchorage Prohibited,” dir. Chiang Wei Liang

Best Director

Liao Jiekai (“The Mist”)

Youth Jury Prize

Still (aka “Hilom”) by PR Patindol

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