On the evening of December 10, the closing ceremony and awards ceremony of the 6th Hainan Island International Film Festival (HIIFF) were held on Phoenix Island in Sanya. Numerous renowned directors, actors, and experts from the global film industry gathered on the shores of the South China Sea to celebrate the festival alongside Sanya’s local citizens, unveiling the winners of the “Golden Coconut Awards.”

With the theme “Infinite Vitality, Illuminating the Future,” the evening gala kicked off with The Movie Story. Luc Besson, the chairman of this year’s jury, delivered a speech and extended his sincere wishes to the HIIFF. Following this, captivating performances such as Nameless People, La Vie en Rose, Jasmine Flower, and A More Beautiful Tomorrow vividly showed the glamour of light and shadow.

It is reported that this year’s HIIFF received 4,330 film submissions from 117 countries and regions. Eight documentary films, including Fabric of Lives; ten short films, including Poems of Timeless Acclaim; and fourteen feature films were shortlisted for the “Golden Coconut Award” competition section. The jury, chaired by distinguished French director Luc Besson, selected the winners of the ten awards.

On the night of the awards, many prominent figures in the film industry took the stage to announce the winners of this year’s “Golden Coconut Awards.” The Georgian film Holy Electricity won the Best Picture; the Serbian film 78 Days received the Grand Jury Prize; Laetitia Dosch was awarded the Best Director for Dog on Trial; Alberth Merma won the Best Actor for Through Rocks and Clouds; Preeti Panigrahi earned the Best Actress for Girls Will Be Girls; Ruth Becquart and Leonardo Van Dijl won the Best Scriptwriter for Julie Keeps Quiet; Dong Zijian’s debut feature film, My Friend An Delie, received both the Best Visual Effects and the Best Chinese Contribution of the Year; An Oscillating Shadow won the Best Documentary Film; and Vox Humana earned the Best Short Film.

The 6th HIIFF, themed “Infinite Vitality, Illuminating the Future,” was co-hosted by China Media Group (CMG) and the People’s Government of Hainan Province.

This year’s festival introduced the “HIIFF Talents” Film Venture Camp for the first time as a core activity of the film industry to support young directors in creating short films. It provided participants with financial support, free access to filming locations, full-process post-production services, and professional guidance from experienced filmmakers. During the festival, five outstanding domestic films signed international copyright treaties, marking the first substantive international copyright transactions facilitated by the HIIFF.

This year’s festival also hosted a series of special events, including the Golden Coconut Forum, Film Masterclasses, the Spanish Film Week, and the “ASEAN Section” Film Screening. The outdoor screening activities expanded to cover four cities and counties in Hainan, featuring diverse locations such as coastlines, beaches, pools, mountaintops, green spaces, and urban forests. These venues perfectly integrated film with nature, providing a rich cultural experience for locals and visitors.