‘Atlantic Rhapsody’ Wins Best Film At Shanghai International Film Festival
Zhong Kaifeng’s Atlantic Rhapsody was named best film in the Golden Goblets Awards of this year’s Shanghai International Film Festival (June 12-21).
The debut feature also picked up best cinematography for the work of Hao Jiayue. Set in China’s northeast, it tells the story of a supermarket clerk who returns to his hometown and embarks on a time-skipping search to find his father who left to pursue wealth during China’s capitalist boom in the late 1990s.
The main competition jury, headed by Hong Kong actor Tony Leung Chiu-wai, stated: “Through a bold experimental approach, the director explores the absurdity of human life, while the outstanding cinematography and editing create a uniquely compelling visual experience.”
Meanwhile, Moroccan social realist drama Halima, about an elderly woman confronting her past involvement in the illegal cannabis trade, also picked up two awards – best director for Yassine El Idrissi and best actress for Khadija Amari.
The Jury Grand Prix went to Iluminada, a Belgium-backed film set in the slums of Bogota in Colombia. Best actor went to Zhang Songwen for Hong Kong-set Secret In The Box, directed by Frankie Tam.
This year’s main Golden Goblets competition featured 12 films from 15 countries. In addition to Leung, the jury also included directors Guan Hu, Aktan Arym Kubat and Déa Kulumbegashvili, producers Fernanda Valadez and Dora Bouchoucha, and Chinese actress Xin Zhilei.
In the Asian New Talent competition, best film went to Chinese drama Her First Taste, a campus-set coming-of-age film that marks the feature directorial debut of Gong Yiwen, which also picked up best actress for Ma Fufu.
Thailand’s 9 Temples To Heaven, which recently premiered in Cannes Directors Fortnight, also picked up two prizes in the Asian New Talent competition – best director for Sompot Chidgasornpongse and best actor for Sompop Songkampol.
In the Short Films & Animation competition, best animation film went to Lucy Lost from France’s Olivier Clert, which recently premiered in Special Screenings at Cannes and is in competition at the ongoing Annecy International Animation Film Festival (June 21-27).
In SIFF Project, Only The Moon Knows, a China-Hong Kong co-production from Chinese filmmaker Juno Hong, claimed the Annual Focus Award and the Regent Presents “Cinematic Escapes” Special Focus Award.
The Best Genre Project prize went to Murder Television, from Tibetan filmmaker Jigme Trinley; while A Room Of Her Own, the feature debut of China’s Kaia Gao, won the Best Talent Project award and the FunAge “Happy Together” Award, including a cash prize of $22,000.
The SIFF Project jury included actress and director Joan Chen, Chinese actress Ma Yili and Malaysian filmmaker Sam Quah.
SHANGHAI INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2026:
GOLDEN GOBLET MAIN COMPETITION:
Best Feature Film: Atlantic Rhapsody, dir: Zhong Kaifeng (China)
Jury Grand Prix: Iluminada, dir: Nicolás Rincón Gille (Belgium)
Best Director: Yassine El Idrissi, Halima (Morocco)
Best Actor: Zhang Songwen, Secret In The Box (China, Hong Kong)
Best Actress: Khadija Amari, Halima (Morocco)
Best Screenplay: Reis Çelik, Night Of Blindness (Turkey, Germany)
Best Cinematography: Hao Jiayue, Atlantic Rhapsody (China)
Outstanding Artistic Achievement: The Miserable Mother, dir: Susanne Heinrich (Germany, France)
ASIAN NEW TALENT COMPETITION:
Best Film: Her First Taste, dir: Gong Yiwen (China)
Best Director: Sompot Chidgasornpongse, 9 Temples To Heaven (Thailand)
Best Actor: Sompop Songkampol, 9 Temples To Heaven (Thailand)
Best Actress: Ma Fufu, Her First Taste (China)
Best Screenplay: Ridham Janve, Hunter’s Moon (India, Germany)
Best Cinematography: Samiul Karim Shuptak, The Blind Girl And An Elephant (Bangladesh, Germany)
SHORT FILMS & ANIMATION:
Best Animation Film: Lucy Lost, dir: Olivier Clert (France)
Best Animated Short Film: If Only, dir: Ada Güvenir (Belgium)
Best Live Action Short Film: Sitting Bird, dir: Athena Han (Canada)
Best Documentary Film: Notes Unheard, dir: Gu Jun (China)
