‘Ah Girl’ Wins Best Film at Singapore’s Silver Screen Awards as Shahrbanoo Sadat Takes Director Prize

Singaporean filmmaker Ang Geck Geck Priscilla’s debut feature “Ah Girl” won best film in the Asian Feature Film Competition at the Singapore International Film Festival’s Silver Screen Awards on Saturday. The film follows a seven-year-old girl in 1990s Singapore whose parents have separated. Ang workshopped the project at the festival’s Southeast Asian Film Lab back in 2015, and “Ah Girl” went on to take the Youth Jury Award at the International Film Festival Rotterdam. Ang is an alumna of the Busan Asian Film Academy. Her 2012 short “Broken Crayon” won the Singapore Short Film Awards’ best short film prize. Afghan filmmaker Shahrbanoo Sadat won best director for “No Good Men,” which opened the Berlinale. Set in Kabul just before the Taliban come back to power, the drama follows a camerawoman whose work, family and freedom are suddenly in doubt. Sadat, who has lived in Germany since 2021, made the 2016 Cannes premiere “Wolf and Sheep” and 2019’s “The Orphanage.” The jury split the best performance prize. Pushpa Thing Lama was honored for “Elephants in the Fog,” about a member of Nepal’s third-gender Kinnar community searching for her missing daughter. Putri Marino shared the award for “Four Seasons in Java,” a magical realist drama about a woman who goes back to her hometown after two decades behind bars. The Special Jury Prize went to Japanese director Nagahisa Makoto’s “Burn,” his second feature, which premiered at Sundance. Nagahisa won awards at the same festival for his short “And So We Put Goldfish in the Pool” (2017) and his feature “We Are Little Zombies” (2019). In the Southeast Asian Short Film Competition, Yogyakarta-based artist-filmmaker Arief Budiman’s “Golden Island” was named best Southeast Asian short. The film, which competed at Rotterdam, follows a videographer from Java and another from Papua as they make a film about Papua together. Thai director Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke won best director for “The Bovine Comedy,” a Locarno premiere set in a 2036 where cows have nearly died out. His feature debut “A Useful Ghost” (2025) won the Critics’ Week Grand Prize at Cannes and received a special mention at SGIFF. German-Indonesian filmmaker Berthold Wahjudi took the shorts Special Jury Prize for “‘Vaterland’ or A Bule Named Yanto,” which premiered in Cannes’ Critics’ Week. Sarah Lingam won best performance for “Flame of the Forest,” about a young nurse who returns home and is blamed for her grandmother’s death. Singaporean experimental animator Exyl’s “Singapore God” was named best Singapore short. The Audience Choice Award went to Singapore Panorama Programme 2, “Second Life, Second Skin,” a package of five shorts: Shara Tay’s “Kiss Me Climax,” Ash Goh Hua’s “Subterranea,” Syahmi Iman’s “Reanimator,” Leon Cheo’s “Orang Minyak” and Ewan Leong’s “Encik.” Prizes were also handed out at the SGIFF Pro Pitching Forum, held Oct. 30. “Agape,” from Yamaguchi Shin and Miyahara Takuya, won the SGIFF Pro Pitching Forum Award. The SGIFF Pro Pitching Forum Award (Asian Producers Network) went to Lệ Diễm Hà’s “Dear Son An.” Tong Khoon Mun and Zhou Ke Xin’s “Beg, Borrow, Steal” won the SGIFF Abroad Award supported by Sony, and Sam Chua Weishi and Rein Maychaelson’s “Primal” received the SGIFF Abroad Award. Earlier in the festival, Indian star Aamir Khan received the SGIFF Screen Icon Award from Peter Chan during an In Conversation With session on Oct. 22. Kore-eda Hirokazu, who released two features this year, “Sheep in the Box” and “Look Back,” was presented with the SGIFF Cinema Honorary Award by Boo Junfeng on Oct. 24. The ceremony took place at the Singtel Waterfront Theatre on the penultimate day of the 37th SGIFF, which runs through Nov. 1. Launched in 1991, the Silver Screen Awards was the first international film competition to include a dedicated section for Asian cinema. The full list of winners: ASIAN FEATURE FILM COMPETITIONBest Film: “Ah Girl” – Ang Geck GeckBest Director: Shahrbanoo Sadat – “No Good Men”Best Performance: Pushpa Thing Lama – “Elephants in the Fog”; Putri Marino – “Four Seasons in Java”Special Jury Prize: “Burn” – Nagahisa Makoto SOUTHEAST ASIAN SHORT FILM COMPETITIONBest Southeast Asian Short Film: “Golden Island” – Arief BudimanBest Director: Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke – “The Bovine Comedy”Special Jury Prize: “‘Vaterland’ or A Bule Named Yanto” – Berthold WahjudiBest Performance: Sarah Lingam – “Flame of the Forest”Best Singapore Short Film: “Singapore God” – Exyl AUDIENCE CHOICE AWARDSingapore Panorama Program 2: “Second Life, Second Skin” – “Kiss Me Climax” (Shara Tay), “Subterranea” (Ash Goh Hua), “Reanimator” (Syahmi Iman), “Orang Minyak” (Leon Cheo), “Encik” (Ewan Leong) SGIFF PRO PITCHING FORUM AWARDSSGIFF Pro Pitching Forum Award: “Agape” – Yamaguchi Shin, Miyahara TakuyaSGIFF Pro Pitching Forum Award (Asian Producers Network): “Dear Son An” – Lệ Diễm HàSGIFF Abroad Award supported by Sony: “Beg, Borrow, Steal” – Tong Khoon Mun, Zhou Ke XinSGIFF Abroad Award: “Primal” – Sam Chua Weishi, Rein Maychaelson SPECIAL RECOGNITION AWARDSSGIFF Screen Icon Award: Aamir KhanSGIFF Cinema Honorary Award: Kore-eda Hirokazu