'Palace' wins Barcelona prize
Pic centers on Tiananmen protest
Producer to head festival
10/7/08 4:16pm
Tokyo Filmex unveils vast lineup
Festival to bow on Nov. 22 - 30
10/7/08 3:14pm
'Tulpan' takes Reykjavik's Puffin
Pic also named Discovery of the Year
10/7/08 7:56am
Spanish directors fake it in Sitges
Faux trailers compete for Teaserland prize
10/7/08 7:29am
Dubai film festival restructures
Programmers expand roles for upcoming event
10/6/08 5:48pm
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Toplined by Hao Lei and Guo Xiaodong, "Palace" interweaves an erotic and sexually explicit love story with the events at Tiananmen Square in the summer of 1989, climaxing with the historic massacre.
The French-Chinese co-production world preemed at Cannes last year prompting China's Film Bureau to ban Lou from making and distributing his films in China for five years.
Chinese authorities alleged that the film did not have sufficient image and sound quality, Lou told the press. Its explosive cocktail of sex and politics was probably not to the authorities' liking either.
BAFF special mentions went to Pu Jian's "The Exam" and Hitoshi Yakazi's "Strawberry Shortcakes."
Audience gong went to "Getting Home." Helmed by China's Zhang Yang ("Sunflower"), the contempo occasional comedic vignette of rural China, also took the Golden Alexander at the Thessaloniki Film Festival.
Taking place in Barcelona, BAFF showcased north of 60 Asian pics.
Admissions came in at 22,000. The 2008 edition have a special focus on Hong Kong cinema.
Fest ran April 27 - May 6.
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