"This award is intended to support an emerging filmmaker that the Award Jury expects will make a significant contribution to the art of film in the course of his/her filmmaking career. We have selected the film A SIMPLE GOODBYE, directed by Degena Yun, who also wrote the screenplay as well as acted in this extraordinary family drama. Her attention to detail about an aging father suffering from pain and terminally ill, facing the dire prospect of loneliness and mortality, is both heart-warming and heart-breaking. The remarkable subtlety by which we bear witness to the everyday family crises which are invariably engendered by generational conflict allows the audience to see the value of communication between members of a multigenerational family."
