Singaporean director Anthony Chen chaired the Asian New Talent jury at the 28th Shanghai International Film Festival on Sunday. He called on emerging Asian filmmakers to embrace sincerity and fresh ideas. Other jurors from the Golden Goblet competition shared their evaluation criteria during the meeting.
Chen, whose film Ilo Ilo won the debut prize at Cannes, stressed that age and experience do not factor into assessments. “What I really value is whether a creator is truly sincere and willing to adopt new lenses and ideas to break conventions,” he said.
Fellow Asian New Talent juror Wen Qi highlighted films with strong individual voices. Kazakhstan director Farkhat Sharipov and Chinese director Liu Jiayin addressed the internal pressures young creators face in finding direction and executing their work.
Separate juries for short films, animation and documentaries also outlined their standards. Portuguese director João Salaviza led the short film panel, while UK director Will Becher chaired the animation section and noted growing international recognition for Chinese animation.