Just as fest director Alan Franey predicted at the opening of the 2007 Vancouver International Film Festival, Chinese filmmakers captured the spotlight this year, as two independent films from China were awarded the $10,000 Dragons & Tigers Award for Young Cinema in VIFF’s Asian film spotlight. On a sour note, however, three other Chinese filmmakers were denied visas by the Canadian government to attend the Vancouver screenings of their films.

Fujian Blue by Robin Weng and Mid-Afternoon Barks by Zhang Yuedong impressed the jury comprised of film director Jang Sun-Woo from South Korea, film critic Kong Rithdee from Thailand, and film producer, critic and academic Colin MacCabe from Britain.

In a release, the jury described Fujian Blue as ‘an extremely realistic film about contemporary China… a portrait of the current generation of young people: boys and girls floating on the waves of globalization,’ and Mid-Afternoon Barks as a film that ‘demonstrates the young director’s masterly grasp of cinema.’

Among the six other nominations, the jury singled out Obbah: A Girl’s Elder Brother by South Korea’s Kim Jong-Guk for honorable mention.

Yuedong and Jong-Guk picked up their awards in person, while Weng’s award was received by his producer Lin Fan.

Franey notes that VIFF has made China a key focus since 1985. ‘It’s part of our mandate to increase understanding of other nations through film.’

Five of the six filmmakers were denied visas. The two reapplied successfully and the others decided to stay home.

Franey says this is just the tip of the iceberg. ‘I brought this up with [Liberal Party leader] Stéphane Dion a few weeks ago, and have talked about this with other arts administrators. It’s the blunt instrument of bureaucracy. The back-story to me is how customs, security and immigration are coming to the front. Cultural diplomacy, sensitivity and intelligence seem to have disappeared.’