Chinese films scooped the major awards at the Asian Festival of First Films last week at a glittering ceremony at Singapore.

Mainland filmmaker Zhang Jiarui's film, The Road, was nominated for three awards and finally took home three, the Best Film, the Best Script and a special award given by international journalists.

Zhang has a philosophy major, which helps him to better understand human emotions. His concern for the social problems of humanity particularly relating to dignity, conscience and redemption is amply displayed in his film making. In The Road he conveys the life-style of ordinary Chinese over the past 40 yaears to the world.

The film traces the emotive relationship of a bus driver Lao Cui and his wife Li Chunfen. Set in picturesque Yunnan Province, the story unfolds in the first half of the "cultural revolution" (1966-76).

But scriptwriter Yuan Dajiu said: "What we want people to see is not a particular time in Chinese history but the people's lives of that time."

"This is perhaps the best-looking Chinese film I've ever seen in recent years outside the work of Zhang Yimou," commented James V. Hart, member of the jury from Hollywood. "The scenery is breathtaking in scope, with the tone and atmosphere perfectly conveying the emotional arc of the characters."

Beijing-born director Cheng Gong has also been nominated for the Best Director for Documentary at the Festival with the documentary Don't Cry about a cancer patient and his family in the last three months of his life.

"With the coming of spring, the leaves of Chinese parasol trees outside the window crumble after a long winter. But like the patient they still struggle against the winds even though the inevitable is a foregone conclusion," said the director in his documentary.

It took Cheng four months to accomplish the work. He witnessed the 45-year-old cancer patient and his family's suffering. "After all the shooting part was done, I just put all the materials on my shelf. I dared not touch them. I didn't even want to make them into a film," Cheng said. "Death is something everyone has to experience. The patient was happy because his family was with him. Death gave him the ultimate relief. That is life."

For the 35-year-old filmmaker, the difficulty of making an independent film is not all about money. "When I stayed with the patient, I realized that persistence, determination and confidence are what every filmmaker needs when creating their first film."

The Beijing director is planning his next project, a documentary about Beijingers born in 1976, the Year of Dragon. These people have experienced the changes of the city.

As Hart said, Chinese films in the Festival tell the audience about China and its people.

The week-long film festival, as its name suggests, serves as a platform to celebrate the talent of promising filmmakers in Asia. And the talent pool is getting deeper. The 22 nominees are chosen from more than 300 candidates. "Everyone remembers their first film, their first break and the struggles they faced as a new talent," said Sanjoy Roy, festival director and managing director of Teamwork Films.

(China Daily December 15, 2006)