Underground Fragrance, a film by Chinese director Peng Fei, on Friday was awarded by Fedeora, the Federation of Film Critics of Europe and the Mediterranean, here at the Venice International Film Festival.
Fedeora awarded Underground Fragrance as Best Film in the Venice Days, an independent section at the festival promoted by the Italian Association of Filmmakers and Italy's audiovisual authors association 100 Autori.
Fedeora described Underground Fragrance as "sensitive and intelligent" in revealing the underbelly of modern Chinese society. The federation said the film was also directed with "great skill and conviction."
Underground Fragrance, the first feature film for the young director who studied film direction at the Institut International de l'Image et du Son in France, is the story of three people struggling for their dreams in Beijing.
Yong Le, a young migrant worker from the south who salvages furniture to re-sell, lives in a room in the Underground City, a labyrinthian former bomb shelter that serves as cheap housing for people looking for opportunity in the big city.
Xiao Yun, a migrant too, lives in the same place and is a pole dancer at nights. Her meeting with Yong Le after a bad accident which leaves him temporarily blind and their burgeoning relationship encourage her to hunt for a more respectable job.
Meanwhile at ground level, Old Jin is struggling to get a decent compensation deal from the authorities who want to demolish his house. But his health is declining and his savings are evaporating.
In the film, the underground and surface become metaphors of a society undergoing complete transformation. Peng's camera pays particular attention to young generations that he believes need to be encouraged to pursue their dreams with concrete dedication and commitment.
"I consider this award as a great encouragement for me and for all the people who worked with me to make Underground Fragrance," Peng told Xinhua in an interview after winning the award.
"All of them made big efforts and helped me a lot as it was my first experience as a film director," he highlighted.
Peng said he has a long way to go and he is determined to continue to work hard. The thought of this award won at the Venice International Film Festival, he said, will always be helpful for him in facing difficulties.
Peng also told Xinhua that he sees the Fedeora award as a praise of his choice of telling a story which is a reflection of reality.
"I will continue to focus on common people and get the inspiration through the life of those that are around me," he said.
Founded in May 2010 in Cannes, London-Based Fedeora is constituted of individual professional film critics from European and Mediterranean countries. Besides to presenting awards, its aims are forming juries, publishing film reviews, essays, festival reports and organizing conferences.
