Brazilian director Davi Pretto's film "Rifle" won the grand prize at the 18th Jeonju International Film Festival (JIFF) in Jeonju, South Korea.
Festival director Lee Choongjik announced the winners in various categories at a ceremony held at the Jeonju Cine Complex.
"Rifle" won the grand prize in the International Competition while Im Taegyu's "The Seeds of Violence" took home the grand prize in the Korean Competition and Bae Gyung-heon's "Alone Together" was the major winner in the Korean Competition for Shorts.
Pretto's entry, which received US$18,000 as cash prize, is about Dione whose existence is threatened when a rich landowner tries to buy land in a rural area in southern Brazil. Dione uses a rifle as a weapon.
"Initially appearing as a slow narrative, the film develops the increasing tension of a genre film and after the film´s midpoint Rifle´s true nature is expected. The hardboiled tone is in a skillful balance under the structure of a Western with its divide between native and conqueror," wrote Jang Byungwon in his festival review of "Rifle."
Also winning in the International Competition are France's entry "The Park" by Damien Manivel, which bagged the Woosuk Award, or Best Picture Prize, and Maysaloun Hamoud's Israel-France project "In Between" and Eduardo William's Argentina-Brazil-Portugal film "The Human Surge" which were awarded the Special Jury Prize.
"The Seeds of Violence" is Im's first feature film and focuses on the physical assault in the military. It also won the "CGV Arthouse Award Distribution Support Prize."
Korea's Lee Seungwon won the "CGV Arthouse Award Upcoming Project Prize" for "Happy Bus Day."
In the "Korean Competition for Shorts," Chae Euiseok's Bomdong grabbed the Special Jury Prize while Kim Youngsam's "Hye-Young" won the Best Director Prize.
The NETPAC Award, given to the best Korean feature film, went to Kim Heecheol's "The Painter's View" while "Blue Butterfly Effect" by Park Moonchil won the Documentary Award for best documentary.
"Loser's Adventure," a movie by Ko Bongsu, scooped up the Daemyung Culture Wave Award for the best Korean feature film among all films screened at the festival. The Union Investment Partners Award was given to Hwang Gyuil's "Saem."
