France's best actress award goes to Dian Sastrowardoyo
France's best actress award goes to Dian Sastrowardoyo
Agence France-Presse, Deauville, France
Indonesia's Dian Sastrowardoyo, the young heroine of the Indonesian film Pasir Berbisik (Whispering Sands), has secured the Lotus best actress award at a festival dedicated to Asian cinema in the French resort of Deauville.
The University of Indonesia's student majoring in philosophy, finally proved that she's not just another urban teenager-turn-a- movie-star.
In Pasir, Dian, who will celebrate her 20th birthday this March 16, played Daya, a village girl living in the desert sands near Mount Bromo in East Java.
Dian earlier described the making of Pasir as an exceptional but difficult experience. She had to brave cold desert winds, the scorching heat of the sun and being away from her family for a month.
"But I was more afraid that I would be unable to be Daya than I was afraid of getting a sunburn. The film was serious work and I was acting with a bunch of stars. It would have been humiliating if I had failed."
In the film, she plays opposite prominent actress Christine Hakim and actors Slamet Rahardjo and Didi Petet.
Dian's latest film, Ada Apa Dengan Cinta? (What's Up With Love?) is now playing in local theaters and is proving a big commercial success.
In the festival, Fialan, a film by South Korean director Song Hae-sung, scooped the top awards. The jury awarded Lotus best movie, film, best actor (for Choi Min-shik) and best director prizes to the film, which was also voted best film by the general public at the festival.
Fialan beat six other offerings, including Whispering Sands by Indonesia's Nan T. Achnas, A Woman's Work by Japan's Kentaro Otani, Death Row by the Joel Lamangan of the Philippines and The Rule of the Game by Taiwan's Ho Ping.
A seventh rival film, from China, was pulled out of the four- day festival by China's cultural center over complaints that the Taiwanese flag was displayed at the event.
The cultural service of the Chinese embassy in France ordered the film Fathers, by 34-year-old director Lou Jian, to be pulled from the official line-up as the festival just started.
According to the festival organizer, the movie was the only one of four films from China that did not have a distributor and was thus not protected from the Chinese authorities.
Best screenplay went to Taiwan's Kuo Chen for The Rule of the Game, while Hong Kong's Peony Pavilion won the prize for best cinematography.
Around 40 films were shown at the event.
The festival jury included Shin Sang-ok, a South Korean-born director who now lives in the United States, and Hong Kong actress and singer Karen Mok as well as French personalities.
In last year's festival, the South Korean film Joint Security Area (JSA) also walked away with the top prize.