Hainan International Film Festival

The Hainan International Film Festival is a film festival held in Sanya, Hainan, China. The inaugural festival was held from December 9 to 16, and included forums, ceremonies, and competitions. Actor Jackie Chan is the promotional ambassador.

Along with Chan, the festival was attended by a number of international film personalities, including Turkish film director Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Bollywood star Aamir Khan, and Hollywood film stars such as Johnny Depp, Nicolas Cage and Mads Mikkelsen. The festival's top prize was awarded to Dying to Survive, with the award presented by Khan.

1st Session
Film of the Year: "Dying To Survive"

Director of the Year: Wen Muye "Dying To Survive"

Actor of the Year: Xu Zheng in "Dying To Survive", Aaron Kwok in "Project Gutenberg"

Actress of the Year: Yao Chen in "Lost, Found"

Supporting Actor of the Year: Du Jiang "Operation Red Sea"

Supporting Actress of the Year: Feng Wenjuan "Project Gutenberg"

Screenwriter of the Year: He Jiping, Jiang Wen, Li Fei, Sun Yue, Zhang Beihai "Hidden Man"

New Actor of the Year: Yung Chung Erjia, "Ala Changso"

New Director of the Year: Dong Yue "The Looming Storm"

Animated Movie of the Year: "The Wind Guardians"

2nd Session
Best Film Award: Penma Tseden's "Balloon" (Tibet)

Jury Prize: Oliver Laxe's "Fire Will Come" (Spain/France/Luxembourg)

Best Director Award: Wang Lina "The First Farewell" (China)

Best Screenplay Award: Mehdi Basoy "A Father's Search for a Liver" (Tunisia/France/Lebanon)

Best Actor Award: Sammy Boyajira "A Father's Search for a Liver", Ryuhei Matsuda "Beneath the Shadow" (Japan)

Best Actress Award: Suolang Wangmo "Balloon" (Tibet)

Best Technical Award: "Snake White" (China)

Best Children's Film Award: "1982" (United States/Lebanon/Norway/Qatar)

Best Documentary Award: "About Love" (India)

Best Short Film Award: "Everything Has Form" (Colombia)

Special Award of the Organizing Committee: "4K Ultra HD Live Movie" "At This Moment - Celebrating the 70th Anniversary of New China"

4th Session
Best Picture Award: Laura Citarella's "In the Mist"

Best Director Award: Alice Diop "Saint Omer"

Jury Prize: Charlotte Wells, "Sunday Holiday"

Best Screenplay Award: Isabel Peña, Rodrigo Sorogoyan, "Those Beasts"

Best Actor Award: Karim Lakelu, "Sons of Paris"

Best Actress Award: Vera Gemma "Vera"

Best Technical Award: Qiao Sixue "Umbilical Cord"

Best Documentary Award: "We, the Students" by Rafiki Faala

Best Short Film Award: Thanasis Neofotistos "Stewardess-737"

5th Session
Best Film Award: "Family Picture"

Jury Prize: "Summer Cicada"

Best Director Award: Wanma Tseden's "Snow Leopard"

Best Screenplay Award: Roberto Andou, Massimo Gaudioso, Ugo Chiti, "The Greatest Adventure"

Best Actor: Paul Kirsher, "Animal Kingdom"

Best Actress: Delague Campbell, "Family Pictures"

Best Short Film: "Swear to God"

Best Documentary: "Children of Boko Haram"

Best Children's Film: "Little Children"

Best Technical Award: "Family Photo"

Controversies
The festival has been involved in numerous accusations concerning a distinct lack of communication and the non-payment of hundreds of thousands of dollars in prize money promised to young filmmakers at its past editions.

Chinese producer Yini Qian’s film Drop Your Cat won the festival’s 2020 Hainan Choice Award, which included a RMB1.5 million (about $212,000) production-support prize. But the filmmaker says only RMB225,000 ($32,000) was paid — and not until June 2021. Repeated attempts by Yini and her partners to follow up on the unpaid award have yielded nothing, blaming the shutdown caused by the pandemic and an internal dispute among shareholders. Her team eventually pursued payment from the festival for two years before eventually filing a legal claim at the Beijing Arbitration Commission. The commission ruled in Yini's favor, but during the intervening years the original legal entity that was behind the festival was shutdown and a new entity was created to replace it — while organizers continued operating under the same festival name and reputation.

Chinese indie film project Gods Are Watching won the Sanya Focus Award at HIIFF’s H!Action Project Market in 2020, but the filmmakers say they have yet to see any of the RMB425,000 ($60,000) that was promised to come with the prize which caused a disruption in the post-production of the film.

Several former members of HIIFF’s senior staff members have also revealed that they are still chasing unpaid wages promised under their former contracts with the festival.