Majid Majidi's Midday Meal won Best Film at the 31st Busan International Film Festival on Thursday. The Hollywood Reporter says the seven-member competition jury, led by Zhang Yimou, reached its decision unanimously, after a week of buzz that had many predicting the result.
The film follows a contract teacher, played by Mohammad Rahimi, whose hopes of a permanent post are threatened when the donor funding free meals for his poor students dies. To keep the children in class and his own future alive, he turns to increasingly risky schemes, including fuel smuggling, per The Hollywood Reporter.
A Speech Against War
Majidi used his acceptance to dedicate the award to the people of his home country and to condemn the civilian toll of the war there, both trades reported. He singled out a school attack in which 120 students were killed, by his account in the speech as quoted by The Hollywood Reporter.
"I wish for a world where there is no more war, full of peace, love and brotherhood," he said, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Earlier in the festival he said he nearly turned down the invitation because he felt worn down by the situation at home, before deciding the trip could carry a small message from his people to others.
The Oscar Angle
The win carries weight beyond the trophy. Under new Academy rules, the festival's Best Film winner qualifies for the Best International Feature race without needing its home country's official selection. Variety notes it is the sixth festival granted that status, and The Hollywood Reporter lists the others as Cannes, Venice, Berlin, Sundance and Toronto.
That matters because Land of Angels has already been chosen as the official submission, so Midday Meal now has a separate path into the race. Majidi has history there: Children of Heaven was the first film from his country nominated in the category, then called best foreign-language film.
The Rest of the Winners
Lee Yun Chan took Best Director for To Be Ordinary, her first feature in more than 15 years, according to Variety. Eddie Cahyono won the Special Jury Prize for Ibuku. The acting award was split between Zhou Xun for The First Taste of Loneliness and newcomer Kashun Himeno for Satoko Always, and Gu You's film also earned the Artistic Contribution Award for Li Danfeng's sound work.
In the New Currents section for first features, Shashank Walia won for Birds in the Dark, while Lim Ha-yeon's Beach Fictions received a special mention. Organizers reported more than 200,000 moviegoers this year, the biggest crowd since 2015, The Hollywood Reporter said.
Reporting sources: Variety, “Iranian Auteur Majid Majidi Wins Top Prize at Busan Film Festival With ‘Midday Meal’” · The Hollywood Reporter, “Iranian Drama ‘Midday Meal’ Wins Busan Film Festival’s Top Prize, Qualifying for Oscar Consideration”.