The winners of Silver Screen Awards 2019 were announced at the Singapore International Film Festival (SGIFF) held in the National Museum of Singapore on Saturday. During the ceremony, young Saudi Arabian writer-director Shahad Ameen bagged the best film award for her debut feature Scales.
The 74-minute feature film revolves around the life of a rebellious teenage girl named Hayat, who lived in a rural village with a superstitious fishing community. The jury, led by popular Indian filmmaker Anurag Kashyap, described the feature as a very strong and original film by a first-time filmmaker.
After receiving the award, Ameen said it took her six years to make Scales and she fought hard to get international recognition for it. "The film is a woman's statement and that is very relative right now. I wanted this film to be symbolic of something bigger," The Hollywood Reporter quoted her saying.
Other artists who won big at the 30th SGIFF include Israeli writer-director Oren Gerner, late Filipino actor Kristoffer King, Japanese director Miike Takashi and Chinese actress Yao Chen. While Gerner was named as the best director, King won the best performer award and Takashi won a special jury award along with Chen.
During the ceremony, Gerner received praises from the jury for being a challenging director with tremendous talent. The jury also praised King for his outstanding and nuanced performance in Philippine crime film Verdict.
Here is the complete winners list of SGIFF 2019:
SouthEast Asian Film Lab
- Most Promising Project – Amoeba by Tan Siyou
- Residency Prize – Bing. Bong. Bang by Krisitin Parreno Barrameda
Youth Jury and Critics Programme
- Young Critic Award – Lee Sze Wei for A Cinema Of Revolt
Asian Feature Film Competition Awards
- Best Film – Scales by Shahad Ameen
- Best Director – Oren Gerner for Africa
- Best Performer – Kristoffer King for Verdict
- Special Mention – Passed by Censor
Southeast Asian Short Film Competition Awards
- Best Southeast Asian Short Film – I'm Not Your F***ing Stereotype by Hesome Chemamah
- Best Singapore Short Film – Adam by Shoki Lin
- Best Dorector – Zaw Bo Bo Hein for SICK
- Special Mention – California Dreaming by Sreylin Meas
- Youth Jury Prize – Sweet, Salkty by Duong Dieu Linh
