Kore-eda Gets SGIFF Honorary Award, Yim Heads Jury — SkimNews
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- SGIFF's 37th edition runs Oct 21 to Nov 1 and will present its Cinema Honorary Award to Japanese filmmaker Kore-eda Hirokazu, the festival's top prize for lasting impact on Asian cinema
- Kore-eda will attend the Southeast Asia premiere of his film "Look Back" on Oct 24 ahead of its Oct 29 theatrical release, and will be presented the award during an In Conversation With dialogue session that day
- "Look Back" is the first live-action feature adaptation of a manga by Fujimoto Tatsuki; the film competed for the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival
- Korean director Yim Soon-rye will head SGIFF's Asian Feature Film Competition jury and speak at Industry Days on Oct 27; her credits include "Waikiki Brothers," "Forever the Moment," "Little Forest," and "The Point Men," and she has spent 12 years as president of an animal rights association and co-leads the Korean Center for Gender Equality in Film
- SGIFF Pro is expanding Industry Days from three to four days, with new programs including Off Campus (film school field trips), Pitching Forum (international co-production matchmaking positioning Singapore as a regional hub), and Parallax (a free AI and immersive technology sidebar featuring participants from Amazon MGM Studios, SM Entertainment, Adobe, Largo.ai, and Ubac Studio)
- Cinematographer Ashizawa Akiko, laureate of the 2026 Pierre Angénieux Tribute awarded at Cannes, and filmmaker Fukada Koji — whose Singapore co-production "Nagi Notes" screens in the Horizon section — will speak at Industry Days
Why it matters: SGIFF's expansion to four Industry Days plus three new programs signals Singapore's push to position itself as Southeast Asia's regional film hub. The convergence of Palme d'Or winner Kore-eda, Cannes-laureate Ashizawa Akiko, and an AI-focused sidebar featuring Amazon MGM Studios shows the festival deliberately bridging auteur cinema with tech-industry partnerships.
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