«I believe in cinema as an element of hope.» The words of legendary Japanese actor Yakusho Koji, crowned on stage at the Teatro Nuovo Giovanni da Udine on April 25 with the Golden Mulberry Award for Lifetime Achievement, perfectly describe the spirit of the Far East Film Festival and the energy of this just-concluded edition. Number 28. An edition that once again demonstrated the resilience of cinema and of the festival itself: in a historical moment marked by wars and conflicts, FEFF 28 confirmed that stories — the true ones, those that come from Asia and speak to the entire world — have the power to bring us closer, to make us feel part of a common humanity. An edition that turned its gaze towards the narrative urgencies of contemporary Asia, ranging across genres and building a line-up particularly attentive to social themes.
FEFF 28 brought to Udine 75 films (8 world premieres, 18 international, 21 European and 20 Italian premieres from 12 countries), 236 guests of honour — including Yakusho Koji and Yuen Woo-ping, awarded the Golden Mulberry Award for Lifetime Achievement, and Fan Bingbing, awarded the Golden Mulberry Award for Outstanding Achievement — and 70,000 spectators. It was precisely the audience votes, supreme judges of the titles in competition since 1999, that determined the eagerly awaited 2026 podium.
The audience crowned the Mulberry Audience Award 2026 – first place Fujiko by Kimura Taichi, an oneiric drama on female emancipation. In second place: The Seoul Guardians by Kim Jong-woo, Kim Shin-wan, Cho Chul-young (a live chronicle of a coup d’état). In third place, ex aequo, four titles: Blades of the Guardians: Wind Rises in the Desert by Yuen Woo-ping; My Name by Chung Ji-young; Tunnels: Sun in the Dark by Bui Thac Chuyen; The King’s Warden by Chang Hang-jun.
The Black Dragon accredited members assigned their prize ex aequo to The Seoul Guardians by Kim Jong-woo, Kim Shin-wan, Cho Chul-young and to Fujiko by Kimura Taichi. The three jurors of the first-feature section awarded the White Mulberry Award for a First Feature Film to Unidentified Murder by Kwok Ka-hei and Jack Lee, with a special mention for The Seoul Guardians. The Mulberry Award for Best Screenplay went to Tunnels: Sun in the Dark by Bui Thac Chuyen, with a special mention for We Are All Strangers by Anthony Chen.
The numerous guests welcomed by FEFF 28 were spread across 18 different accommodation facilities in the city, occupying 2,421 rooms (with daily peaks of up to 358 rooms in a single day), while the number of accreditations reached the figure of 2,000. Enthusiasts, journalists, experts, industry professionals, ordinary “curious” visitors, 150 students and 40 university cinema lecturers from across Europe (Italy, United Kingdom, Austria, Croatia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary) — a testament to how high the level of attention is among the youngest festivalgoers. More than 250 industry professionals arrived from across Europe for the Focus Asia industry sessions (the Sino-American project Naked in Glendale, directed by emerging director Haohao Yan, wins the White Light Award, while the Malaysian-Singaporean project Somewhere in the South, the feature debut of Ce Ding Tan, produced by Edward Lim and Anthony Chen, wins the TAICCA Award).
To these figures are added the thousands of views generated by the social media engagement of guests and stars (a single reel featuring Fan Bingbing filmed in Udine surpassed 850,000 views alone). The Friulian city has truly become a cultural and tourist destination in the East!
More than 20,000 people took part in the Far East Film Events scattered throughout the centre of Udine, including visitors to the exhibition by illustrator Chihoi at the Visionario cinema, which will remain open until May 24.
Even in its digital version, the FEFF managed to move and engage: streamed on MYmovies ONE, the festival surpassed 7,000 hours of viewing, with spectators connected from across Italy. Among the most-loved titles online, 5 Centimeters Per Second and Suzuki=Bakudan totalled 1,160 and 895 hours of viewing respectively. More than 3,000 votes decided the winner of the Purple Mulberry Award (MyMovies Award): the Japanese 5 Centimeters Per Second by Okuyama Yoshiyuki.
FEFF wins the challenge: «Solid numbers, widespread enthusiasm and a shared feeling: the festival has reached a mature balance between film quality, popular participation and territorial impact» declare Bertacche and Baracetti. And the future is already in sight: a focus on Hong Kong’s 30 years is among the ideas for 2027. Now all that remains is to mark the dates of the 29th edition in the calendar: see you in Udine from April 23 to May 1, 2027!