Singaporean filmmaker Ang Geck Geck Priscilla’s debut feature film “Ah Girl” won the best film award in the Asian Feature Film Competition at the Singapore International Film Festival Silver Screen Awards on Saturday.
The film follows a seven-year-old girl whose parents are separated in 1990s Singapore. Ang workshopped the project at the festival’s Southeast Asian Film Lab in 2015, and “Ah Girl” received the Youth Jury Prize at the Rotterdam International Film Festival. Ang is a graduate of Busan Asian Film Academy. His 2012 short film “Broken Crayon” won the best short film award at the Singapore Short Film Awards.
Afghan filmmaker Shahrbanoo Sadat won the best director award for “No Good Men,” which opened the Berlinale. Set in Kabul just before the Taliban’s return to power, the series follows a cameraman whose job, family and freedom are suddenly in doubt. Sedat, who has been living in Germany since 2021, premiered the films “The Wolf and the Sheep” at Cannes in 2016 and “Orphanage” in 2019.
The jury shared the best performance award. Pushpa Thing Lama was honored for her film “Elephants in the Mist,” about a member of Nepal’s third-gender Kinnar community searching for her missing daughter. Putri Marino shared the award with “Four Seasons in Java,” a magical realist drama about a woman who returns to her hometown after two decades behind bars.
The Special Jury Prize was given to Japanese director Nagahisa Makoto’s second feature film, “Burn”, which premiered at Sundance. Nagahisa won awards at the same festival for his short film “And So We Put Goldfish in the Pool” (2017) and his feature film “We Are Little Zombies” (2019).
In the Southeast Asian Short Film Competition, Yogyakarta artist-filmmaker Arief Budiman’s film “Golden Island” was selected as the best Southeast Asian short film. The film, which competed in Rotterdam, is about a cameraman from Java and Papua who together shoot a film about Papua. Thai director Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke won best director for his Locarno premiere “Bovine Comedy,” set in 2036 when cows have nearly become extinct. His debut feature, “A Helpful Ghost” (2025), won the Critics’ Week Grand Prize at Cannes and received a special mention at SGIFF.
German-Indonesian filmmaker Berthold Wahjudi received the Special Jury Short Film Award for “’Vaterland’ or A Bule Named Yanto,” which premiered at Cannes Critics’ Week. Sarah Lingam won best performance for “Flame of the Forest,” about a young nurse who returns home and is blamed for her grandmother’s death. Singaporean experimental animator Exyl’s “God of Singapore” was chosen as the best Singaporean short film.
The Audience Choice Award went to Singapore Panorama Program 2, “Second Life, Second Skin,” which consists of five short films: “Kiss Me Climax” by Shara Tay, “Subterranea” by Ash Goh Hua, “Reanimator” by Syahmi Iman, “Orang Minyak” by Leon Cheo and “Encik” by Ewan Leong.
Awards were also handed out at the SGIFF Pro Pitching Forum on October 30. “Agape” by Yamaguchi Shin and Miyahara Takuya won the SGIFF Pro Pitching Forum Award. The SGIFF Pro Pitching Forum Award (Asian Producers Network) was awarded to Lệ Diễm Hà’s “Dear Son An”. Tong Khoon Mun and Zhou Ke
Earlier in the festival, Indian star Aamir Khan received the SGIFF Screen Icon Award from Peter Chan during the In Conversation With session on October 22. Kore-eda Hirokazu, who released two feature films this year, “Sheep in the Box” and “Look Back”, was presented with the SGIFF Cinema Honorary Award by Boo Junfeng on October 24.
The ceremony took place at the Singtel Waterfront Theater on the penultimate day of the 37th SGIFF, which runs until 1 November. Launched in 1991, the Silver Screen Awards were the first international film competition to include a dedicated section for Asian cinema.
Full list of winners:
ASIAN FEATURE FILM COMPETITION
Best film: “Oh Girl” – Ang Geck Geck
Best Director: Shahrbanoo Sadat – “No Good Men”
Best Performance: Pushpa Thing Lama – “Elephants in the Fog”; Putri Marino – “Four Seasons in Java”
Special Jury Prize: “Burn” – Nagahisa Makoto
SOUTHEAST ASIAN SHORT FILM COMPETITION
Best Southeast Asian Short Film: “The Golden Island” – Arief Budiman
Best Director: Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke – “The Bovine Comedy”
Special Jury Prize: “A Bole Called ‘Vaterland’ or Yanto” – Berthold Wahjudi
Best Performance: Sarah Lingam – “Flame of the Forest”
Best Singapore Short Film: “God of Singapore” – Exyl
VIEWER’S CHOICE AWARD
Singapore Panorama Program 2: “Second Life, Volume Two” – “Kiss Me Climax” (Shara Tay), “Subterranea” (Ash Goh Hua), “Reanimator” (Syahmi Iman), “Orang Minyak” (Leon Cheo), “Encik” (Ewan Leong)
SGIFF PRO PITCHING FORUM AWARDS
SGIFF Pro Pitching Forum Award: “Agape” – Yamaguchi Shin, Miyahara Takuya
SGIFF Pro Pitching Forum Award (Asian Producers Network): “Dear Son Moment” – Lệ Diễm Hà
SGIFF Overseas Award Powered by Sony: “Beg, Borrow, Steal” – Tong Khoon Mun, Zhou Ke Xin
SGIFF Overseas Award: “Primitive” – Sam Chua Weishi, Rein Maychaelson
SPECIAL RECOGNITION AWARDS
SGIFF Screen Icon Award: Aamir Khan
SGIFF Cinema Honorary Award: Kore-eda Hirokazu