Veteran Iranian filmmaker Majid Majidi has claimed the top honor at the 31st Busan International Film Festival, taking home the Best Film award for his latest feature, “Midday Meal.” The movie is a signature Majidi production: a simple, starkly powerful contemporary parable that examines the heavy moral burdens placed on a rural schoolteacher as he makes difficult choices to ensure his young students continue to receive free lunches in the face of crippling government budget cuts.
Majidi accepted the prestigious prize from the competition jury president, celebrated Chinese director Zhang Yimou, during a flashy outdoor closing ceremony held at the ultra-modern Busan Film Center. The event was hosted by South Korean singer and actor Yim Si-wan, widely known for his role in “Squid Game.” Following the presentation of the award, Majidi stepped to the microphone and delivered an impassioned speech protesting the ongoing war in Iran. In particular, the director strongly decried the Minab school attack that took place in February of this year, a tragic incident resulting from a U.S. military strike that claimed the lives of 156 civilians, heartbreakingly including 120 schoolchildren.
“They will stand firm to the end and fight to get their independence back,” Majidi declared from the stage, before concluding his remarks with a poignant wish: “I wish for a future with no war.”
With its unwavering humanist approach to social realism and its deeply empathetic focus on child welfare, “Midday Meal” fits seamlessly into Majidi’s distinguished cinematic oeuvre. His celebrated body of work includes such poignant titles as “The Color of Paradise” and the 2020 Venice competition entry “Sun Children.” However, the director remains best known internationally for his 1998 masterpiece “Children of Heaven,” which made history as the first Iranian production ever to be nominated for the Academy Award in the category now known as Best International Feature.
Reviewing his latest work for Variety, critic Kambole Campbell praised the film’s unvarnished aesthetic, writing that “Majidi’s matter-of-fact style of shooting underlines the cold reality that [his protagonist] tries to navigate, and strips away any semblance of potential didacticism.”
Beyond its critical acclaim, “Midday Meal” holds significant commercial and awards-season potential, as it could return Majidi to the Oscar race under a newly implemented Academy rule. According to regulations instated this year, winning the top prize at Busan automatically qualifies a film for the Best International Feature Oscar without requiring its home country to formally submit it for consideration. Notably, Iran has already selected a lower-profile contender, “Land of Angels,” for this year’s race. Busan is the sixth and final international film festival on the annual calendar to be granted this coveted qualifying status. Other films guaranteed eligibility under the new rule include Sundance prizewinners “Shame and Money” and “To Hold a Mountain,” Berlin’s “Yellow Letters,” Cannes selections “Fjord” and “Woman Unknown,” and Toronto’s “Angh.”
The Busan main competition was programmed entirely with films from Asian nations, the vast majority of which were world premieres. Among the other notable winners was the Taiwanese family drama “To Be Ordinary,” which captured the Best Director prize for Lee Yun Chan. In Variety’s review, Lee’s helming was commended for its “handsome sobriety” and “delicate, empathetic touch.” The film marks Lee’s first feature in over 15 years. During her acceptance speech, the director noted with emotional resonance that she was wearing the exact same gown she had worn two decades prior when she premiered her 2005 feature debut, “The Shoe Fairy,” also at the Busan festival.
Meanwhile, the Special Jury Prize was awarded to Indonesian director Eddie Cahyono for his compelling drama “Ibuku.” The movie centers on a working-class Indonesian widow who struggles desperately to stay afloat after her adult daughter is imprisoned in Saudi Arabia. Campbell praised the picture in his review, noting that it is “most compelling when its spiritual qualities are felt rather than seen.”
In a refreshing move toward inclusivity, the festival’s gender-neutral acting award was shared between two talented female performers. Japanese newcomer Kashun Himeno earned recognition for her eye-catching and potentially star-making performance as a lovestruck high schooler in the charming romance “Satoko Always,” which Variety critic James Marsh described as a breakout turn. Sharing the honor was celebrated Chinese star Zhou Xun, who delivered a powerful performance as a single mother coping with the death of her father in director Gu You’s emotional tearjerker, “The First Taste of Loneliness.” Gu’s film, characterized by Variety as “patient, restrained and gracefully observed,” additionally picked up the Artistic Contribution Award for the meticulous work of sound designer Danfeng Li.
In the separately juried New Currents competition, which highlights first-time feature directors, Indian filmmaker Shashank Walia emerged victorious for his film “Birds in the Dark.” The movie explores themes of corruption and bitter land disputes in rural Punjab. Additionally, South Korean director Lim Ha-yeon received a special jury mention for “Beach Fictions,” a delightful, time-slipping romantic drama that also screened within the main competition.
Zhang Yimou presided over a formidable and diverse competition jury that included fellow Chinese filmmaker Bi Gan, directors Kei Ishikawa and July Jung, actors Samal Yeslyamova and Choi Hee-seo, and producer Tran Thi Bich Ngoc. These industry luminaries joined the festivities as presenters during the closing ceremony.
A broad array of additional prizes was distributed at the Busan Vision Awards ceremony. Among the standout winners was the Mongolian-German production “Zogsool,” which walked away with a remarkable quartet of awards, while the Spanish Oscar hopeful “La Bola Negra” continued its impressive festival run by adding yet another audience award to its growing roster.
