地衣
The layers of these lives unfold slowly as the film advances, and the relationships between them feel natural and true. The young woman at the centre is reserved and sincere; she is on screen rarely, yet she is essential to the whole. In a society stratified by economics, those who leave home seem fated never to find a way back. Best Film goes to The Homeless.
Why the jury named it
The film portrays several homeless people from a slightly detached vantage point. As it goes on, we come to understand what put each of them on the street. Then a young woman appears who, through her job — but above all because she has grown attached to them and wants to help — tries to bring them back to an ordinary life. The film gradually narrows to two men, and the director shows the solidarity among these homeless people with real skill, drawing genuine feeling from the audience.
The way the characters evolve, and the complexity of the relationships between them, is compelling.
Festival history
2025 · 2nd Edition
The second edition was staged together with the Donghai International Documentary Masterclass Camp in Shitang, Zhejiang — a stone fishing town on the East China Sea known as “the Notre-Dame of the East”. Twelve of 502 entries reached the final round, and five jurors decided the outcome after four hours of debate.
Also in this edition
