Majidi's 'Midday Meal' wins Best Film at Busan, opening an Oscar route

Mixed · 2Iranian director Majid Majidi's Midday Meal won the Best Film award at the close of the Busan International Film Festival on Thursday 15 October. 1 2 Centre · 1The win automatically qualifies the film for submission in the Oscars' Best International Feature category. 1 Left · 1The Hollywood Reporter says that under Academy rules Busan's best film winner can be submitted without being selected by its country's Oscar committee. Iran has already chosen Babak Khajehpasha's Land of Angels as its official submission for the 99th Academy Awards, so Midday Meal now has an alternate route. 2

Left · 1The Hollywood Reporter reports that the seven-member jury, led by Zhang Yimou, called its decision unanimous. It assessed 13 competition titles. 2 Mixed · 2The film follows a school teacher, played by Mohammad Rahimi, in a parched rural village who fights to keep his school open after the death of a benefactor. In The Hollywood Reporter's account, the teacher is Davoud Soulan, a contract teacher in southeastern Iran, and the benefactor's death ends the free lunches that keep his pupils coming. It adds that he turns to increasingly desperate measures, including cross-border fuel smuggling, and that the cast is entirely nonprofessional. 1 2 Left · 1Accepting the prize, Majidi dedicated it to the people of Iran and condemned the civilian toll of the U.S.-led war on his country. According to The Hollywood Reporter, he said a school in Minab was hit on the first day of the war and 120 students were killed. This is Majidi's own statement and the coverage does not independently verify it. 2

Mixed · 2Majidi, known for Children of Heaven, made his first trip to Busan for the festival. He said at a press conference that he had nearly declined the invitation because he felt depressed and exhausted by the situation at home. 1 2 Mixed · 2Other winners were Ibuku by Indonesia's Eddie Cahyono (Special Jury Prize), Taiwan's Lee Yun Chan for To Be Ordinary (Best Director), and Zhou Xun for The First Taste of Loneliness and Japan's Kashun Himeno for Satoko Always (Best Actor). Li Danfeng won the Artistic Contribution award for sound. Birds in the Dark by India's Shashank Walia won the New Currents Award, and Beach Fictions by Korea's Lim Hayeon received a special mention. 1 2 Mixed · 2Organisers reported attendance of more than 200,000 across the festival, its highest since 2015, with another 77,000 at programme and special events. They linked the growth to a new opening date and an expanded screening programme. The Asian Contents & Film Market (10-13 October) drew 30,484 participants and 339 companies from 32 countries. 1 2