The Italian movie Baciami ancora (Kiss Me Again), directed by Gabriele Muccino, was named Best Feature Film at the Golden Goblet Awards ceremony which closed the 13th Shanghai International Film Festival (SIFF) on June 20, 2010.

The sequel to L'ultimo bacio (The Last Kiss), which won five awards at the David di Donatello in Italy in 2001, including Best Director, grabbed two other awards -- Best Actress for Vittoria Puccini and Best Screenplay for Gabriele Muccino.

Unable to make it to the festival, the director said, via email, "I tried to portray honestly and truthfully what we went through when we were forty. We were so frightened by the mistakes we had made when we were younger." Recognition from SIFF, he said, "tells me how universal the theme of a movie can be."

Italian actress Sabrina Impaccinatore accepts the Best Actress Award on behalf of her co-star Vittoria Puccini, at the Golden Goblet Awards of the 13th Shanghai International Film Festival in Shanghai on June 20, 2010. [Sohu.com]

 

Actress Sabrina Impacciatore, who accepted the awards on behalf of her co-star and director, said the sequel, made ten years after the first movie changed their lives, was very important to them.

Replying to Italian critics who dismissed it as a money-making exercise, she said "We were really disappointed and sad because they did not understand our intention and passion."

Thrilled by the wins at SIFF, Impacciatore said the night was turning into "our event."

Director Liu Jie accepts the Jury Grand Prix at the Golden Goblet Awards of 13th Shanghai International Film Festival in Shanghai on June 20, 2010. [Sohu.com]

 

Another big winner was the Chinese movie Bi luo xue shan (Deep in the Clouds) which tells a love story set in a remote, national minority village in the southwestern province of Yunnan.

The movie won the Jury Grand Prix; director Liu Jie was named Best Director, and the composer of its score, Giong Lim, won the Best Music award. Two of its actors, Wang Puze and Na Zhiye, were given Jury Awards.

The director said it was the first time he had won an award on the Chinese mainland. He said his motive in making the movie was to raise social awareness of China's national minorities.

The Irish movie Ondine and the Italian-German co-production Wedding Fever in Campobello also won awards.

First held in 1993, SIFF is the China's only international film festival. This year the festival attracted a record 2,300 entries for its Golden Goblet Awards, Asian New Talent Awards, and International Student Shorts Award.

Singers perform at a ceremony of the Golden Goblet Awards, the closing night of 13th Shanghai International Film Festival in Shanghai on June 20, 2010. [Sohu.cm]

 

Sixteen films were short-listed for the Golden Goblet Awards, with the winners decided by a jury presided over by the illustrious Hong Kong film maker John Woo.

The nine-day festival included forums on filmmaking and the movie industry. The festival also hosted a marketplace for filmmakers, sponsors and distributors.