Taiwanese Romantic Drama ‘Blind Love’ Wins Top Prize at Joburg Film Festival

variety.com:

Christopher Vourlias Taiwanese director Julian Chou’s “Blind Love,” a drama about a sensitive teenager who discovers the secret affair between his mother and a mysterious woman, won the top prize at the 7th Joburg Film Festival on Saturday.

Chou’s sophomore feature, which premiered in the Tiger competition at the Rotterdam Intl. Film Festival, won the jury’s praise for its “fearless and brave voice whose point of view is necessary.” In a pre-recorded video message, Chou said she was “honored and humbled” to receive the festival’s top prize and paid tribute to her fellow filmmakers whose “incredible work has brought such special energy and inspiration to the world.” The director added that she would “keep working harder to turn this honor into more meaningful films.” The award capped off a charged night in which several filmmakers stressed the importance for Africans to wrest back control of their own stories.

It was a message most pointedly driven home by director Vusi Africa, who – while accepting the award for best African film for “Happy: The True Story of Happy Sindane” – called on his fellow South African filmmakers to combat “false narratives” — an allusion to U.S.

President Donald Trump’s strongly disputed allegations of a “genocide” being perpetrated on white South African farmers. “We’re living in a crucial time right now, where it is important that we tell the South African story in the midst of all these false narratives around South Africa that are revolving around the world.