LOTTE Award

Nahuel Lopez

Nahuel Lopez was born in 1978 in Hamburg.He studied Advertising and Political Science and completed traineeship at the TV production company Cinecentrum. He then worked as a freelance journalist and commissioning editor. Also active as a writer, producer and instructor, < El Viaje > is his directorial debut.

Jury Special Mention

82-year-old Charlie Nagatani operates a country & western bar named ‘Good Time Charlie’s’. He also created the biggest country music festival in Japan, for the past 32 years. Masabe Sasabe, leads one of Japan’s bluegrass bands. In the early 1970’s, he was in the first wave of Japanese to travel to America, seeking the source of traditional music. < Far Western > tells this lost chapter of music as Nagatani and Sasabe journey from Japan to the heart of American traditional music.

James Payne

< Far Western > is the first feature documentary directed by James Payne. He co-directed < The Creek Runs Red > and has produced a number of films. He has produced TV programming for History Channel and National Geographic. His films have been accepted to major festivals including SXSW, TIFF, Hot Docs, IDFA, Berlin & Sheffield.

World Music Film Today (International Competition)

World Music Film Today introduces latest films across all genres in which music plays a central role. A jury of five international members will select two films to receive the Grand Award and the Special Jury Award, which are accompanied by $10,000 and $5,000 prizes.

Jury of International Competition

[President of the Jury] Christian Jeune
Director of Film Department and Deputy General Delegate of the Cannes Film Festival

Christian Jeune is the Director of Film Department and Deputy General Delegate of the Cannes Film Festival, responsible for representing the festival abroad and scouting films, particularly from Asian territories. Having worked at the festival in a number of positions since 1983, he was instrumental in helping to increase the profile of Southeast Asian auteurs such as Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Brillante Mendoza, Eric Khoo, Garin Nugroho, among many others. He has also translated over one hundred films from English into French.

SHI NansunProducer

Esteemed and prolific producer SHI Nansun has produced blockbuster hits such as The Flying Swords of Dragon Gate 3D(2011), Young Detective Dee ? Rise of the Sea Dragon(2013) and The Taking of Tiger Mountain(2014). She was pivotal in the success of Cinema City and Film Workshop Co Ltd., which she founded with internationally-acclaimed Producer/Director Tsui Hark. Nansun was a member of the International Jury at the Berlin Film Festival in 2007 and at the Cannes Film Festival in 2011. Nansun is a member of the Hong Kong Tourism Board and Vice Chairman of the End Child Sexual Abuse Foundation.

Hanno YoshihiroFilm Music Director, Director, Screenwriter

composer whose field of work has been expanding from movie soundtracks to orchestral pieces, as well as electronics music. With his score for Hou Hsaio-Hsien film Flowers of Shanghai, which was highly praised as ‘discovery of a new talent of movie soundtracks’. Hanno has collaborated with leading Asian directors such as Jia Zhang-ke, Yu Lik Wai etc... In 2015 Hanno directed and written his first feature film called A Woman Wavering in the Rain. It was invited to Tokyo International Film Festival.

Choi Dong-hoonDirector, Screenwriter

Choi Dong-hoon ranks as one of the most consistently successful writers and directors working in the Korean Cinema, becoming commercial hits that also garnered critical acclaim. Choi made his feature directorial debut with The Big Swindle(2004) and single-handedly re-imagined the heist and crime thriller genre into uniquely Korean. His second feature Tazza: The High Rollers earned a reputation as an artistically innovative and commercially successful writer-director. Woochi(2009) featured spectacular action scenes that fused sorcery and wire stunts. In 2012, The Thieves attracted almost 13 million admissions. In 2015, his first period film Assassination was once again a massive box office hit, attracting 12.8 million viewers.

Gwei Lun-MeiActress

Gwei Lun-Mei is a renowned Taiwanese actress. She began her acting career with the film Blue Gate Crossing(2002) and has since starred in over 20 films. In 2012, Gwei won the Best Actress Award at both the 49th Golden Horse Awards and the 55th Asia-Pacific Film Festival with her role in the coming-of-age drama Girlfriend, Boyfriend. The following year, Gwei was again nominated for Best Actress at the 50th Golden Horse Awards with the courtroom drama Christmas Rose. In 2014, she earned yet another Best Actress nomination at the Golden Horse Awards-the third consecutive year she has been nominated-with the thriller Black Coal, Thin Ice.

Jecheon Asia Film Music Honorary Award 2017

Kawai Kenji, the master of Japanese film music, is selected as the first
Jecheon Asia Film Music Honorary Award Winner

The first Jecheon Asia Film Music Honorary Award recipient is Kawai Kenji. He has created film music for Ghost in the Shell , Innocence , Avalon , Ring , Death Note , Ip Man , and Battle of Wits that are well known to Korean audience, and he is considered a leading film music composer not only in Japan, but all over Asia. He is selected as the first winner because his spectrum of creative works is in accord with the intention of Jecheon Asia Film Music Honorary Award. 2006