CEMETERY OF SPLENDOUR TOPS LA INTERNACIONAL CINEFILA'S FILMS OF 2015 LIST

La Internacional Cinefila has chosen Apichatpong Weerasethakul's Cemetery of Splendour as the best film of the year! The Thai director's final film in his homeland has impressed critics the world over, and this is only the latest in an already long list of honours the film has received. Other international arthouse hits populate the seven-strong list, plus George Miller's Mad Max: Fury Road.

1. Cemetery of Splendour (Apichatpong Weerasethakul)

2. The Assassin (Hou Hsiao Hsien)

3. Arabian Nights: Volume 1 - The Restless One / Arabian Nights: Volume 2 - The Desolate One / Arabian Nights: Volume 3 - The Enchanted One (Miguel Gomes)

=  Homeland (Iraq Year Zero) (Abbas Fahdel)

5. Right Now, Wrong Then (Hong Sang Soo)

6. Mad Max: Fury Road (George Miller)

=  Mountains May Depart (Jia Zhang Ke)

FILM COMMENT CHOOSES CAROL AS BEST OF 2015

Carol claims another honour this awards season, as the critics at Film Comment name the 1950s romantic drama the best film of 2015. Among titles undistributed in the U.S., they pick Hong Sang Soo's Locarno champ Right Now, Wrong Then as the best, and name 19 ranked runners-up in both categories. Many excellent choices on both of these lists! Have a look below:

Best Film

1. Carol

2. The Assassin

3. Mad Max: Fury Road

4. Clouds of Sils Maria

5. Arabian Nights: Volume 1 - The Restless One / Arabian Nights: Volume 2 - The Desolate One / Arabian Nights: Volume 3 - The Enchanted One

6. Timbuktu

7. Spotlight

8. Phoenix

9. Inside Out

10. The Look of Silence

11. Hard to Be a God

12. Anomalisa

13. In Jackson Heights

14. Son of Saul

15. Horse Money

16. Jauja

17. Tangerine

18. Brooklyn

19. The Diary of a Teenage Girl

20. Bridge of Spies

Best Undistributed Film

1. Right Now, Wrong Then

2. Chevalier

3. The Sky Trembles and the Earth Is Afraid and the Two Eyes Are Not Brothers

4. The Academy of Muses

5. Don't Blink - Robert Frank

6. Cosmos

7. Journey to the Shore

8. Happy Hour

9. Lost and Beautiful

10. Minotaur

11. Kaili Blues

12. Sixty Six

13. Memories and Confessions

14. The Movement

15. 88:88

16. Microbe & Gasoline

17. Pervert Park

18. Afternoon

19. Of the North

20. The Smell of Us

HONG SANG SOO WINS AT LOCARNO WITH RIGHT NOW, WRONG THEN

Hot favourites proved victorious at the Locarno International Film Festival over the weekend. Korea's most prolific arthouse filmmaker Hong Sang Soo picked up his second award from the acclaimed fest, having won the Best Director trophy two years ago for Our Sun Hi, but this time went one better and won the main prize, the Golden Leopard, for Right Now, Wrong Then, which also won lead Jung Jae Young the Best Actor award. The Asian acting winners continued into the Best Actress category, where the win was shared by Happy Hour's ensemble of Kawamura Rira, Kikuchi Hazuki, Mihara Maiko and Tanaka Sachie. The Best Director winner was veteran Polish director Andrzej Zulawski for Cosmos, in what appears to be a grand return to form for the experimental filmmaker. All the winners can be seen below:

Golden Leopard

Right Now, Wrong Then (Hong Sang Soo)

Special Jury Prize

Tikkun (Avishai Sivan)

Best Director

Andrzej Zulawski (Cosmos)

Best Actor

Jung Jae Young (Right Now, Wrong Then)

Best Actress

Kawamura Rira / Kikuchi Hazuki / Mihara Maiko / Tanaka Sachie (Happy Hour)

Special Citation

Shai Goldman (Tikkun)

UPS Public Prize

The People vs. Fritz Bauer (Lars Kraume)

Variety Piazza Grande Award

Summertime (Catherine Corsini)

Cinema of the Present - Best Feature

Thithi (Raam Reddy)

Cinema of the Present - Special Jury Prize

Dead Slow Ahead (Mauro Herce)

Cinema of the Present - Special Commendation

Kaili Blues (Bi Gan)

Swatch Award for Best First Feature

Thithi (Raam Reddy)

Swatch Award - Special Commendation

Kaili Blues (Bi Gan)

Kiev / Moscow. Part 1 (Elena Khoreva)

Paradise (Sina Ataeian Dena)