The eight member jury awarded the festival’s top prize BEST PICTURE - SNOW LEOPARD to Pan Nalin’s Last Film Show.
This year’s AWFF (Asian World Film Festival) 8th edition saw many celebrated titles from across Asia and Eastern Europe competing for this highly coveted Snow Leopard prize leading up to the Oscar buzz. This year festival opened with the South Korean hit movie The Hunt by Lee Jung-jae and the closing film was Decision To Leave by Park Wan-chook. The lineup also included many Asian films that are entries to the 95th Oscars.
Before awarding the Snow Leopard for the Best Picture to Last Film Show, Jury gave their unanimous verdict and presented their statement to the packed Saban Theater in Beverly Hills, “The best movie encompasses everything we want to see in a great film: good storytelling, moving performances, technically appealing, visually intoxicating and heartfelt connectivity to audiences. We received a line of very good movies this year and it was a tough decision. But this film reminded us of why we loved cinema. It reminded us of cinema’s ability to both enchant and inspire. It is a love letter to cinema to light and to life itself. The film is an ode to movie-going as well as movie-making. It celebrates film and cinematic experience.” Said Janet Nepales and Pitof Jean-Christophe.
Writer-Director Pan Nalin and Producer Dheer Momaya were presented with the trophy. Nalin while accepting the award said, “What an honor, what we did in our solitude continues to echo in multitudes across the world. Through Last Film Show we not only wanted to entertain you but bring you close to that child in you, so that you can witness the fearlessness of coming-of-age drama. Last Film Show, which is a semi-autobiographical story, has now found a new home in the hearts of Asian audiences. We are so much looking forward to its theatrical release in Japan on 20th Jan 2023 followed by South Korea. We want to thank this distinguished jury for showing your faith in Last Film Show.”
Producer Siddharth Roy Kapur said,” Last Film Show is a heartfelt ode to cinema, and this award reinforces our vision. What an honour it is to see Janet Nepales and Pitof Jean-Christophe’s statement about the film! We are glad that Nalin’s love letter to cinema is getting so much love from audiences across the globe, and I join him and Dheer in thanking AWFF for honouring our small film with a big heart.”
Producer Dheer Momaya added, “This Award comes at right time while we are occupied with the screenings for 95th Academy Awards Oscars. In our ever-evolving world to have the Asian World Film Festival in heart of Hollywood is indeed an excellent feat. For one year, we have insisted in keeping Last Film Show in theaters only experience, so today this award restores our faith in Cinema and collective movie-going experience.”
Samuel Goldwyn Films will do the theatrical release of Last Film Show on 2nd December 2022. And the movie is represented in international markets by France’s Orange Studio. Indian companies involved in the production include Jugaad Motion Pictures, Monsoon Films, Chhello Show LLP, and Roy Kapur Films. The French co-producer is Virginie Films.
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