Serious fun

Singer Wu Mochou performs at the awards ceremony in Beijing.

My Grandparents, a 40-minute documentary by Zhou Tianyi from the Communication University of China, records a couple's 50-year married life to give the viewers a glimpse of the changes in China's countryside, and Tableland captures an old farmer's reflections about rapid urbanization. The former film won in the best feature documentary category and the latter got the "work of the year" award.

The awards also had special prizes for even younger contenders.

The best work by a middle school student went to Qingchun de Muyang (The Looks of Puberty) directed by Zhao Shengbo from Hengshui High School in North China's Hebei province, which is known for producing graduates who get top scores in gaokao, the competitive national college entrance examination.

Sa Beining, a celebrity who hosted the event this year, says Zhao's win shows Chinese teenagers' pursuit of artistic dreams while preparing for tough examinations.

Other works that won awards this year are Salvation, Life Journey and The Hero with a Single Leg for cinematography, screenplay and short documentary, respectively.

"From my viewpoint, many awarded films have a good chance also at international festivals," says Jukka-Pekka Laakso, a member of the jury and director of the Tampere Film Festival.