At the 3rd Da Nang Asian Film Festival (DANAFF III), the Asian and Vietnamese Film categories will create a special competition with many domestic and foreign entries.
Notably, the people who "carried the weight" in the Asian Film category were prestigious film experts and artists, prominent names in world and Vietnamese cinema, headed by Jang Joon-hwan.
Jang Joon-hwan was born in 1970. He graduated with a degree in Art from Sungkyunkwan University, where he began his approach to theoretical and practical aspects of filmmaking.
In 2003, Jang Joon-hwan officially debuted as a director through the movie "Save the Green planet! , a unique work combining science fiction, dark comedy and psychology, marked a major turning point in his career.
The film brought him many prestigious domestic and international awards such as the Best Director award at the Moscow International Film Festival, or Best New Director at the Daejong Film Awards.
He later made many film projects such as "Hwayi: A Monster Boy", "1987: When the Day Comes"...
In particular, "1987: When the Day Comes" attracted millions of Korean audiences to theaters, bringing 27 awards and 34 nominations worldwide to the film crew. The film won 3 awards at the Blue Dragon Film Awards, including the Best Film award. In addition, the film also won the noble Daesang award at the 2018 Baeksang Arts Awards.
Jang Joon-hwan has a happy marriage with famous female director and actress Moon So-ri (films "Award of the Guard", "When Life Is for You and the Bamboo"). The two got married in 2006 in a simple wedding ceremony.
In addition, the judges of the Asian Film category competing in the DANAFF (III) also include Shozo Thisyama - a famous producer of Asian cinema, who was the Director of the Tokyo International Film Festival.
Shozo Ichiyama was born in 1963, a film producer, art director and prominent figure in the Japanese film industry. He is known for his important role in promoting Asian cinema, especially through film production projects and film festival management.
Mr. Shozo Thisyama graduated from the University of Tokyo, joined Shochiku in 1987 and began working as a producer for films such as "Nowhere Man" (2005), "Good Men Good Woman" (1995), "Goodbye South, Goodbye" (1996), and "Flowers of Shanghai" (1998).
In 1998, he joined Office Kitano and began producing films by independent filmmakers in Asia, helping them win many prestigious international film awards.
For example, the Iranian film "Blackboard" (2000) produced by him won the Jury Prize and nominated for the Golden branch award at the Cannes Film Festival. Or with "A Touch of Sin" 2013 the film by Jia Zhuang Kha won the Best Score award at the Cannes Film Festival.
In addition to working as a producer, Shozo Thisyama also established the TOKYO FILMEX Film Festival (Japan) as the Director of the Film Festival. Since 2021, he has been the Program Director of the Tokyo TIFF International Film Festival (Japan).
In 2019, thisyama received the Kawakita Award (Japan), honoring individuals who have made great contributions to promoting Japanese cinema to the world. In 2023, he was invited to be a judge for the World Cinema Dramatic Competition category at the Sundance Film Festival (USA).
