This year’s jury for the Dragons & Tigers Award at Vancouver International Film Festival was made up of David Bordwell (USA), Li Cheuk-To (Hong Kong) and Gerwin Tamsma (The Netherlands).

They have selected Ox Hide by LIU Jiayin from China as winner of the 2005 Dragons & Tigers
The film is a bold effort that shows astonishing confidence in both dramatic and stylistic choices made by the filmmaker. Ms Liu treats her own family life with insight, humour and clear-sightedness. Amongst other virtues, Ox Hide shows how formal experimentation can coexist with engrossing human drama and powerful emotion. The film has deservedly already won prizes in festivals elsewhere, but the strength and originality of this young filmmaker compelled the jury to acknowledge her achievement.

After a long discussion, the jury have decided on the prizewinner and three Special Mentions and made the following statement. "We should say first that the films in competition constituted an extraordinarily accomplished body of work. All of them exhibited remarkable promise and creative daring, not to mention an exciting diversity of ambition. This level of achievement made the jury’s deliberations all the more difficult. We would be gratified if every film on the list achieves striking success in other festivals and in theatrical release."

Three Special Mentions went to:

Bambi © Bone by SHIBUTANI Noriko from Japan
This playful, impressionistic study creates an imaginative and honest portrayal of the darkest regions of childhood. Ms Shibutani is to be congratulated for making a traumatic subject engaging and affirmative.

Shin Shung-Il is Lost by SHIN Jane from South Korea
Ms Shin Jane creates a vivid alternative world from minimal means. The film carries us into a hallucinatory pseudo-religious atmosphere, mixing comedy and grotesquerie in a way reminiscent of Pasolini and Arrabal.

The Silent Holy Stones by Wanma-caidan from Tibet
A mature, elegant study of a society that has never before been represented on film by its own inhabitants. Mr Wanma-caidan treats Tibetan culture with great dignity and a non-judgmental attitude that balances tradition and modernity, religious culture and imported technology.