Awards

There are three awards in Vision International Film Festival, namely Faith (信仰), Peace (平和), and Heritage (承傳).

The Faith Award recognises films that depict the relationship between humanity and the divinity. For example, a man's belief in the Divine carries him through tribulations, and yet his mind remains calm, much like the fishermen in "The Great Waves of Kanagawa". In another example, the yearning for truth propels monks and priests on a route of homelessness, poor in materiality, but rich in spirituality. There are many more examples that occur in different parts of society, in different ages, propelling people to do different things, but the spiritual faith remains true and the same.

The Peace Award recognises films that promote understanding between people of different cultures, countries, or religious groups. These films further promote the ideas of peaceful means of resolving conflicts. In the tumultuous geo-political macro environment we witness today, the Peace Award is especially appropriate.

The Heritage Award is for films that excel in telling stories of cultural heritage and preservation of traditions and values. In the future world of Artificial Intelligence (AI) driven economic system, the truly scarce commodity is humanity and humanistic artefacts, including culture, family, rituals, filial piety, and traditional knowledge and values. We want to celebrate efforts to promote and preserve this important part of humanity.

In almost all the films that we selected, we see all three factors playing its part in forming the storyline. Hence our award simply implies our perception of the over-riding theme for that film, and it is by no means exclusive or all encompassing.

In this inaugural edition, film participation is by invitation only.

"The Lake of Hakone in the Segami province", Katsushika Hokusai (1830s) (Public Domain)

"Tama River in the Musashi province", Katsushika Hokusai (1830s) (Public Domain)