Some of the finest film-making talent from across Asia have been honored at the 26th Shanghai International Film Festival (SIFF) as the Asian New Talent awards ceremony took place in the east China metropolis on Thursday.
Five of the 11 nominated films were awarded after thorough and in-depth discussions by a six-member jury panel chaired by Chinese director Cao Baoping, who had himself earned a prize at the 2006 edition of the Asian New Talent awards for his solo directorial feature "Trouble Makers".
This year's award-winning features include Chinese drama "Friday, Funfair", which scooped the best film, and the Indian production "In the Name of Fire", which won best director and best actor, while the best actress award went to the star of "Bird of a Different Feather", another hard-hitting film from India.
Two other Chinese films were recognized, with the best cinematography prize going to the suspenseful film "Habitat", and the best screen-writing award going to "Fishbone", a family-focussed drama.
Now into its 26th edition, the SIFF continues to focus on the discovery of new talent in film-making with the Asian New Talent competition playing a vital role.
This year marks the 20th edition of the new talents competition following its launch in 2004 to create a dedicated platform for showcasing directorial debuts and nurturing up-and-coming film-making talent from Asia.
"The competition promotes exchanges between new directors from China and other countries. I think they can draw inspirations from each other. This explains the significance of the Asian New Talent awards. Other domestic film festivals may not be able to achieve that," said Cao.
Founded in 1993, the SIFF is seen as a prestigious global event for the film industry. This year's edition is scheduled to run from June 14 to 23.
Shanghai Int'l Film Festival champions rising stars of Asian film-making
The United Nations has warned that Sudan is facing the worst levels of acute food insecurity ever recorded by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC).
The UN warning was issued in a report released on Thursday on its official website.
"Fourteen months into the conflict, Sudan is facing the worst levels of acute food insecurity ever recorded by IPC in the country. Over half the population (25.6 million people) face crisis or worse conditions(IPC Phase 3 or above)," said Rein Paulsen, Director of the Office of Emergencies and Resilience, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
This includes 755,000 people facing "catastrophe" food insecurity (IPC Phase 5) in 10 states including Greater Darfur (all five states), South and North Kordofan, Blue Nile, Al Jazirah, and Khartoum. Another 8.5 million people, 18 percent of the population, are in "emergency" (IPC Phase 4).
"And there is a risk of famine in 14 areas, localities and clusters affecting both residents, internally displaced people, and refugees. And those 14 locations are found in greater than for Greater Kordofan, Al Jazeera states, and some hotspots in Khartoum," said Paulsen.
He noted that if the conflict escalates further, it will further disrupt "mobility, humanitarian assistance, access to markets and livelihood activities."
Sudan has been embroiled in a deadly conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces since mid-April 2023, which has claimed more than 16,650 lives, according to the Sudan situation report updated by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs on June 24.
This latest IPC analysis marks a stark and rapid deterioration of the food security situation compared to the previous IPC update published in December 2023. Six months later, the number of people facing high levels of acute food insecurity has increased by 45 percent, including a 74-percent increase in IPC Phase 4, while the population in IPC Phase 5 (catastrophe) has surged from zero to 755,000 in the period from June to September 2024. Compared to the same time last year, the number of people classified in IPC Phase 3 or above has increased by over 50 percent.
The conflict has not only triggered mass displacement and disruption of supply routes, market systems and agricultural production, it has also severely limited access to essential humanitarian assistance, exacerbating an already dire situation.
The impact of conflict extends beyond food insecurity. Reports from various states highlight highly dysfunctional health services, water contamination and poor sanitation and hygiene conditions. Increased morbidity to water-borne diseases is expected to further reduce the absorption capacity of the little food available for children and adults.
Consequently, cases of acute malnutrition, which have already reached extremely high levels in some areas will likely increase. Moreover, the fast-approaching rainy season and expected floods will likely affect the agricultural season through the spread of pests and plant diseases, according to the report.
UN warns worst food crisis in Sudan
