The main awards of the festival are the Sea-Shell and the Starfish, inspired by the love to the sea and cinema and conceptualized by Ilona Gansovsaya, an artist of incredible talent.
Every award is unique since it is hand-made by the famous artist Yuichi Noda who spends three months painstakingly creating our awards in his studio at the Institute of Glass Art in Japan.
Today the Sea-Shell and the Starfish awards hold their proud place as pieces of art among other well-known film industry awards.
Being well-known symbols of the festival, the awards have been celebrating the Talent for almost two decades and have been awarded to both acclaimed industry professionals, and budding directors and actors.
International Jury Awards
In the recent years the International Jury featured many world-renowned cinema personalities, like Régis Wargnier, Bruno Dumont, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Jia Zhangke, Kirill Serebryannikov, Klaus Eder, Alexander Rodnyansky, Lav Diaz, Raisa Fomina, Pen-Ek Ratanaruang, Alexey German, Anna Melikyan, Vyacheslav Telnov, Kaori Momoi, and many others.
Every year five professionals from the International Jury select winners among the feature and short films of the Competition Program of Asian Pacific countries, and present their awards at the official closing ceremony of the festival. The awards are given in six nominations:
- SEA-SHELL award and a Diploma
To the best feature film (awarded to the film director)
- SEA-SHELL award and a Diploma
To the best short film (awarded to the film director)
- SPECIAL JURY AWARD – STARFISH and a Diploma
The award is presented as a special award from the International Jury for specific bright artistic features which impress the Jury. The award is presented with a special introduction. It may be awarded both to a film as a whole, and to its specific creators.
- SEA-SHELL award and a Diploma
To the best director
- STARFISH award and a Diploma
To the best actress
- STARFISH award and a Diploma
To the best actor
The 2012 – 2014 period was important in the history of the Pacific Meridian. The most prestigious cinema organizations NETPAC and FIPRESCI started presenting their awards and selecting jury members to participate in the festival.
NETPAC is an international organization for promotion of Asian cinema that brings together 30 countries. It has been in business for over 25 years. The network was created under the auspices of UNESCO in 1990, at the Conference on Asian Cinema in New Delhi. It is a pro-Asian cinema and cultural organization, uniting film critics, directors, film festival organizers and curators, film distributors and film experts. NETPAC is a leading authority on Asian cinema.
- NETPAC Award for the Best Asian Film has been given by the NETPAC Jury at the closing ceremony of the festival since 2012.
FIPRESCI is the International Federation of Film Critics, bringing together film critics and film experts. It was created in Paris on June 6, 1930. Its mission is to promote the development of the world cinema, protecting the interests of professionals, writing about cinema. The headquarters of the General Assembly of FIPRESCI is in Germany, and Isabelle Danel is its President. In Russia the Russian Guild of Film Scholars and Film Critics is its official representative, with Kirill Razlogov being its President.
- FIPRESCI Awards (the Film Critics’ Choice Award) for the best feature and short films from the Competition Program have been given by the FIPRESCI Jury at the closing ceremony of the festival since 2014.
Special Awards
- 9,288 km Award from the Governor of Primorsky Krai, SEA-SHELL and a Diploma – For an outstanding contribution to the world cinema, awarded by the Governor of Primorsky Krai at the closing ceremony of the festival.
The award commemorates the heroic deed of creating the Great Siberian Route. The length of the Trans-Siberian Railway is exactly 9,288 kilometers across Russia, making it the longest railway in world. It connects 87 Russian cities from Moscow to Vladivostok, crosses eight time zones in Europe and Asia, as well as sixteen large rivers.
There is a memorial column at the Vladivostok Railway Station, reading The End of the Trans-Siberian Railway – 9,288 km to indicate the terminus of the railway.
- Yul Brynner Award,STARFISH and a Diploma – For the best Russian actor debut; it is determined and awarded by the famous actor’s son, the professor and writer Rock Brynner, at the festival closing ceremony.
The award was established in 2003 to commemorate the Hollywood actor and the Academy Award winner for THE KING AND I who was born in Vladivostok on July 11, 1920 as Yuliy Borisovich Brinner.
- The Audience Choice Award for the Best Russian Film from all festival programs. The film is selected via audience voting and awarded by the Board Chairman of the Illuzion Cinema Complex Eduard Korin at the closing ceremony.
The opinions of film critics, selecting committee, juries and the audience often differ.
Every movie is created by its director mainly for the audience, so this award is of special significance for filmmakers.
The festival volunteers are in charge of holding everyday voting and counting the results. The festival management receives the protocol with voting results after the end of all screenings.
Creators of Awards
All Pacific Meridian IFF awards are created by two outstanding artists. The Russian artist Ilona Gansovskaya is the author of the idea that was brought to life by the Japanese sculptor Yuichi Noda in his unique manner.
Ilona Gansovskaya
A theatre designer, interior decorator, daughter of the famous Baltic sci-fi writer Sever Gansovsky. She conceptualized both the awards and the trademark design of the Pacific Meridian Festival. Seagulls, the image behind the key topics of her work, the sea element, has become the main symbol of the festival. Seashells and starfish became her marine-themed inspiration for the awards, presented by the festival in this Pacific land. Unfortunately, this beautiful artist, the festival brand creator and its inspiration was taken from us in 2008. BUT every year we always incorporate Ilona’s creations in our promotional and printed materials and the festival design, keeping her artistic heritage inside the very soul of the festival.
Yuichi Noda
The world-renowned Japanese glass sculptor Yuichi Noda has been the author of the awards for the Pacific Meridian International Film Festival for many years now. He is an artist, instructor, founder of the Institute of Glass Art where students and specialists from all over the world learn and work, and where new techniques of working with glass are being developed.
His special treatment of glass gives it unique properties. There is a new space created inside of his sculptures that reflects and contorts the light. Every award is always unique, one-of-a-kind and handmade by Japanese artists.
