I received the press release shown below in my email this morning and wanted to share it with you. Congratulations to the makers of Castaway on the Moon and to the organizers of the Udine Far East Film Festival who have done an outstanding job in creating a venue for Asian films in Europe.

The Korean masterpiece Castaway On The Moon triumphs at the Audience Awards 2010!

UDINE – A time of success for Far East Film 2010. And if talking about a record-edition is almost a tradition by now, talking about it for twelve consecutive years is truly something else: it really is a record within a record, both on the level of pure success as well as regarding the continuity of the culture and planning.

The figures? Here they are: the Udinese festival, again this year, has surpassed the threshold of 50,000 spectators, between the two venues of Teatro Nuovo and Visionario, gathering a very high number of European and International visitors despite the inconveniences caused by the unpronounceable Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajökul. Around ten countries were affected: from the United States to Spain, and as far north as Norway.

The figures speak for themselves: the bookshop sold more than 1600 items (amongst books, t-shirts, posters, DVDs), the official website (www.fareastfilm.com) attracted a total of 50,000 visitors throughout the month of April and the official fan-page on Facebook (www.tinyurl.com/udinefareast) reached 4400 members.

A record-breaking edition, and not only because of the extraordinary programme formed largely by first-time previews, but also for the excellent quality of it, certified by names and titles already registered in the golden book of new Asian cinema! A cinema that, according to the Audience Award votes, has seen South Korea triumph with Lee Hey-jun’s bizarre masterpiece Castaway On The Moon: almost a  a perfect scoring, as had occurred the previous year with Departures, with a star rating of 4.70 (5 is the highest possible score on the voting card!) They then paid honour to the efforts of Japan and Indonesia, with a high score (4.34 and 4.33) for the second and third-place runners up: Hideo Sakaki’s irresistible Accidental Kidnapper and the poetic The Dreamer from Riri Riza (already the winner of a bronze medal in 2009 for Rainbow Troops). The jury of the accredited Black Dragon voted Castaway On The Moon in at number 1, whilst the readers of Mymovies.it, voting directly online, preferred the Japanese Bandage. 

First in line in the group of major international cinematographical events, Far East Film is a unique festival, away from the inner workings of power and strong in its sole and clear vocation: a passion for the popular culture of the Extreme Orient.

A true celebration of cinema that doesn’t establish hierarchies between the popular and elite showings: from all angles, it finds the support of a very motivated and faithful public made up of journalists, critics, cinema students (an increasing number this year, with the presence of France, Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary and England), experts, people working in the field, and mostly, those who love the cinematographical dream of the Far East. And already, talk of the thirteenth edition has begun: bring on 2011!