Song Pengfei wins the Gold Hugo for New Directors at Chicago Film Festival. (Photo : www.chinaculture.org)
"Underground Fragrance," Song Pengfei's first try at film-directing, has earned the nod of the critics and jurors of the Chicago Film Festival.
With the film, the emerging Chinese director grabbed the Gold Hugo for New Directors at the film festival's 51st edition this year.
Song received the award on Friday at the Peninsula Hotel in Chicago.
"Underground Fragrance," which has also bagged the Best Film award at the Venice International Film Festival, features the lives of ordinary people striving to keep up with the modern Chinese society.
Speaking at the Venice Film Festival before, Song remarked that he considers awards and recognitions as a "great encouragement."
Amid praises, Song had been sharing the success of his first feature film with all the people who worked with him.
Song, an alumnus of film-direction at Institut International de l'Image et du Son in France, moreover admitted that he still has a long way to go and a lot of things to improve.
In an interview, the director noted that "he will continue to focus on common people and get the inspiration through the life of those that are around [him]."
Apart from him, Director Song Zhantao also emerged victorious at the Chicago Film Festival.
Song's documentary entitled "In the Underground" won the Silver Hugo Award. His piece presents the successes and struggles of the miners in the northern China's Hebei Province.
Jia Shaowei, the producer of the documentary, also attended the awarding ceremony.
