The 6th Hainan Island International Film Festival will be held in Sanya, Hainan Province, from December 4 to 10, 2024. Today the festival officially announced the jury of this year's Golden Coconut Awards.
This year's Golden Coconut Awards competition has three sections: Feature Film, Documentary and Short Film. The jury is made up of 13 renowned film professionals from China and abroad: French director Luc Besson, Italian cinematographer Paolo Carnera, French director Olivier Megaton, Chinese film, television and stage actress Xu Fan, Chinese actor Wang Jingchun, Chinese actor Zhang Yi and Argentine director Laura Citarella; Chinese director Ju Anqi, Chinese-Canadian director Yung Chang and Portuguese documentary festival artistic director Miguel Ribeiro; and Chinese director Li Ruijun, Chinese screenwriter Bao Jingjing and Italian director Margherita Giusti (listed by age within each section). During the festival they will decide the winners of the ten Golden Coconut Awards, which will be announced at the Closing Ceremony and Golden Coconut Awards Ceremony on December 10.
Feature Film
The Feature Film jury is chaired by French director Luc Besson, with Italian cinematographer Paolo Carnera, French director Olivier Megaton, Chinese film, television and stage actress Xu Fan, Chinese actor Wang Jingchun, Chinese actor Zhang Yi and Argentine director Laura Citarella as members.
Jury President
Luc Besson
Luc Besson, born on March 18, 1959, is a renowned French director. He has directed, written and produced more than 150 films. He received César nominations for Léon: The Professional and The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc, and won the César for Best Director for The Fifth Element. With Taken and The Transporter, made entirely by French teams, he competed successfully with the major American studios. Lucy is the most successful French film worldwide. The Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma presented him with an Honorary César at the 40th César Awards. The Big Blue (1988) is his most successful work as a director.
Jury Member
Paolo Carnera
Paolo Carnera is an Italian director of photography who graduated from Italy's Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia, where he studied under Carlo Di Palma. He has worked with many internationally acclaimed directors, including Paolo Taviani, Mario Martone, the D'Innocenzo brothers and Stefano Sollima. Films he has shot, such as Leonora addio, Nostalgia, Bad Tales and Adagio, have competed in the main competitions of Berlin, Cannes and Venice. In 2023, his collaboration with Matteo Garrone, Io Capitano, was nominated for Best International Feature Film at the 96th Academy Awards. Carnera has received seven David di Donatello nominations; he won the Nastro d'Argento in 2020 for Bad Tales and the David di Donatello for Best Cinematography in 2023 for Io Capitano.
Jury Member
Olivier Megaton
Olivier Megaton began his artistic career in graffiti in the 1980s. Shaped by urban culture, he was one of the pioneers of the field. He went on to work actively in film, directing many features, short films, music videos and commercials, including the features Exit (2000), The Red Siren (2002), Transporter 3 (2008), Colombiana (2011), Taken 2 (2012), Taken 3 (2015) and The Last Days of American Crime (2019), and he has also made documentaries. His unusual path has brought him success, especially in action films, and he continues to explore new fields such as writing novels and creating comics.
Jury Member
Xu Fan
Xu Fan is a Chinese film, television and stage actress who works across theater, film and television. Her major stage works include Ruan Lingyu, Cai Wenji, The Wilderness and Wotou Huiguan; she has won the 13th Plum Blossom Award and the 6th Wenhua Award of the Ministry of Culture, among others. Her major television works include Qing Yi, Sunrise, Ten Years of Marriage, A Peach Tree in Bloom and Ordinary Families, and she won the Outstanding Actress award at the 23rd Feitian Awards. Her major films include The Dream Factory, Be There or Be Square, A Sigh, Cell Phone, Aftershock, Back to 1942 and All About My Mom; she won Outstanding Actress at the 5th and 14th Huabiao Awards, Best Actress at the 5th Asian Film Awards and Best Actress at the 24th Cairo International Film Festival.
Jury Member
Wang Jingchun
Wang Jingchun is a Chinese actor who graduated from the Shanghai Theatre Academy. His major works include Police Diary, Black Coal, Thin Ice and So Long, My Son. In 2009 he won Outstanding Actor at the 10th Lily Awards for TV Films for Crazy Rose. In 2013 he won Best Actor at the 26th Tokyo International Film Festival for Police Diary. He later won the Silver Bear for Best Actor at the 69th Berlin International Film Festival, Best Actor at the 32nd Golden Rooster Awards and Actor of the Year at the 11th China Film Directors' Guild Awards for So Long, My Son, becoming the only Chinese actor to win Best Actor at A-list international festivals in both Asia and Europe.
Jury Member
Zhang Yi
Zhang Yi is a Chinese actor. His major films include Mountains May Depart, Cock and Bull, Operation Red Sea, My People, My Country, The Sacrifice, One Second, Cliff Walkers, Home Coming, Full River Red and The Third Squad. His honors include Outstanding Actor at the 18th Huabiao Awards, Best Actor at the 36th Hundred Flowers Awards, Best Actor at the 34th Golden Rooster Awards, Best Supporting Actor at the 30th Golden Rooster Awards and Actor of the Year at the 8th China Film Directors' Guild Awards.
Jury Member
Laura Citarella
Laura Citarella is an Argentine film director and producer. A member of El Pampero Cine, an independent film collective based in Buenos Aires, she has made and directed films there for nearly 25 years. As a producer, her films include La Flor (Llinás, 2018), Historias extraordinarias (Llinás, 2008), Castro (Moguillansky, 2009) and La vendedora de fósforos (Moguillansky, 2009). As a director, her works include Ostende (2011), La mujer de los perros (2015, co-directed with Verónica Llinás), The Poet Visits Juana Bignozzi (2019, co-directed with Mercedes Halfon) and Trenque Lauquen (2022).
Documentary
The Documentary jury members are Chinese director Ju Anqi, Chinese-Canadian director Yung Chang and Portuguese documentary festival artistic director Miguel Ribeiro.
Jury Member
Ju Anqi
Ju Anqi is a director who has drawn wide international attention and is one of the important auteurs of contemporary world cinema. His works have screened at more than 40 international festivals and have been exhibited at leading art institutions such as the Centre Pompidou in Paris and the Museum of Modern Art in New York. His major works include There's a Strong Wind in Beijing, Poet on a Business Trip and A Trophy Drifting on the Sea. In 2019 he began filming the Chinese Architectural Heritage trilogy; its first film, Building, premiered at the 4th Hainan Island International Film Festival. In 2023 it received the Exploration and Innovation Award at the UNESCO World Heritage Committee session, and he served on the Golden Goblet Awards jury of the 25th Shanghai International Film Festival in 2023.
Jury Member
Yung Chang
Yung Chang is a renowned Chinese-Canadian director whose works include Up the Yangtze, China Heavyweight, The Fruit Hunters and This Is Not a Movie. He has won numerous awards, including two Golden Horse Awards, and his films have been selected for major international festivals such as Sundance, Berlin and Toronto. His latest work was nominated for Outstanding Investigative Documentary at the 44th News Emmy Awards. He is a member of the Writers Guild of Canada and the Directors Guild of Canada. In 2013 he was invited to become a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and in 2016 he served as a juror at the 19th Shanghai International Film Festival.
Jury Member
Miguel Ribeiro
Miguel Ribeiro is currently artistic coordinator of Casa do Comum, a new cultural venue in Lisbon that opened to the public in November 2023 and presents film, music, literature, performing arts and more. Ribeiro joined the programming team of Doclisboa in 2012 and was the festival's programming coordinator from 2020 to 2023. In 2016 he joined the board of the Portuguese Documentary Association (Apordoc). He has served on juries at many festivals, including CPH:DOX (Denmark), Mar del Plata International Film Festival (Argentina), Thessaloniki International Film Festival (Greece), DocumentaMadrid (Spain) and Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival (Czech Republic).
Short Film
The Short Film jury members are Chinese director Li Ruijun, Chinese screenwriter Bao Jingjing and Italian director Margherita Giusti.
Jury Member
Li Ruijun
Since 2006, Li Ruijun has written and directed The Summer Solstice, Old Donkey, Fly with the Crane, River Road, Walking Past the Future and Return to Dust. His films have been selected for many international and Chinese festivals, including the 37th International Film Festival Rotterdam, the 15th Busan International Film Festival, the 69th Venice International Film Festival, the 65th Berlin International Film Festival, the 70th Cannes Film Festival and the 72nd Berlin International Film Festival, and have received a number of major awards and nominations at home and abroad.
Jury Member
Bao Jingjing
Bao Jingjing is a Chinese screenwriter. Her major films include Love Is Not Blind, Our Shining Days and Up in the Wind, and her major series include It's OK to Be Awkward. In 2011 she wrote the romance Love Is Not Blind, for which she won Best Adapted Screenplay at the 49th Golden Horse Awards. In 2012 she received a Best Screenwriter nomination at the 19th Shanghai TV Festival for the workplace drama Ups and Downs. In 2013 she wrote the film Up in the Wind. In 2017 she won the Most Media-Favored Screenwriter award in the Media Focus section of the 20th Shanghai International Film Festival (Movie Channel Media Awards) for the youth film Our Shining Days.
Jury Member
Margherita Giusti
Margherita Giusti is an Italian director and animator. She attended the directing course at Italy's Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia and made the 3D short Blessed Are the Favored, selected for the Prospettive Italia section of the 2012 Rome Film Festival. She then worked as an assistant director and storyboard artist. In 2020 she won several awards for Every Two Lines, an animated documentary co-directed with two other directors, and completed her studies at the Turin film school that year. In 2021 she founded the animation team MUTA and has since focused on animation. In 2023 she directed the animated documentary short The Butcher Shop, which premiered in the Orizzonti section of the 80th Venice Film Festival and won several awards, including the David di Donatello for Best Short Film and the City of Annecy Award at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival.
The previously announced selection is rich and varied, with films from around the world bringing diverse cultures and storytelling. These films will compete for the Golden Coconut Awards under the expert and discerning eye of the jury.
Tickets for the Golden Coconut Awards competition films are now on sale on Maoyan. Audiences can watch all selected films and experience the possibilities of cinema where diverse cultures meet artistic excellence, a feast of films not to be missed.
