'Tokyo Waka: A City Poem' wins grand prize of Green Film Festival

Tokyo Waka: A City Poem" by John Haptas and Kristine Samuelson of the United States won the Best Feature Film Award of this year's Green Film Festival in Seoul (GFFIS), including prize money of 10 million won (US$8,668), organizers said Tuesday. Tokyo Waka was selected as the best feature film, as it broadly reflected social and cultural viewpoints while signifying the relationship between the environment and mankind rather than simply concentrating on environment, the competition's jury said. "The People Who Try to Save the World" by Akile Nazli Kaya of the Czech Republic won the Best Short Film Award and took home 5 million won. "People of a Feather" by Joel Heath of Canada and "Bitter Seeds" by Micha X. Peled of the United States jointly won the Jury Award and 3 million won each while the Audience Award and its 1 million won prize went to "Semper Fi: Always Faithful" by France's Rachel Libert and Tony Hardmon. A total 829 feature and short films from 64 different countries around the world were submitted for the competition held as part of the GFFIS. Meanwhile, "Jam Docu Gangjeng" by Hong Hyung-sook and seven other Korean directors was selected as the best Korean film and received a prize of 5 million won. "White Pig" by Yang Kyug-mo was the second best Korean film and won a prize of 3 million won and "Noodle Fish" by Kim Jin-man got the audience award and 2 million won. The GFFIS was first established in 2004 by the Korea Green Foundation to "share the hope for a better world where all the lives can be in harmony with environment and nature" and to "promote ideas of environmental protection through cinema."