Chinese documentary 'Mrs. Fang' wins top prize at Locarno

World
Europe

"Mrs. Fang", Chinese director Wang Bing's documentary scooped the top "Golden Leopard" prize at the Locarno film festival in Switzerland on Saturday.

Wang's film about a family waiting to say goodbye to their elderly Alzheimer's-stricken mother is a sobering portrait of death, which has received favorable reviews from the jury.

Screenshot from Locarno Festival's Twitter account

The film tells the moving end-of-life story of Fang Xiuying, a farmer who has been struggling with the dementia-type disease for eight years.

After a stay at a nursing home, her family brings her home, and the film focuses on their final days together before her death in 2016.

Wang, who is considered a leader in the current documentary film movement, has previously served on the Locarno jury.

Chinese director Wang Bing attends the Locarno film festival in Switzerland on August 12, 2017. /Photo from Locarno Festival's official website

"I’ve been working on documentaries for over ten years, but this is the first time I am receiving such a great prize. It is a great honor for me to get this award for 'Mrs. Fang'," Wang said in an interview posted on Locarno festival's website, noting that he also saw the award as a fresh start for his future projects.

Wang hopes the world can hear ordinary people's stories and voices, just like this film.

"Locarno is the best platform to show art films, because here, there is an audience, coming from all over the world, which is attentive to every single film that is screened," he told reporters.

A scene in "Mrs. Fang", the top prize film directed by Chinese director Wang Bing at the Locarno film festival in Switzerland. /Sina Photo

Another film “Dragonfly Eyes” directed by internationally acclaimed Chinese artist Xu Bing, claimed Ecumenical Prize – Special Mention, Junior Jury Awards, and International Federation of Film Critics prize at the film festival.

The Locarno Festival is an annual film festival held every August in Locarno, Switzerland. Now in its 70th year, the festival takes place in the picturesque Swiss town on the shores of Lake Maggiore.

Founded in 1946, the Locarno Festival is one of the longest-running film festivals in the world.

(CGTN's Hu Shenqiu also contributed to the story)

8064km