Illustration: Liu Xiangya/GT

During the closing ceremony of the 16th Beijing International Film Festival (BJIFF), British film Dragonfly took home the night's greatest honors, nabbing three Tiantan Awards: Best Feature Film, Best Screenplay, and Best Actress. In a rare twist, the Best Actress trophy was split between the film's two leads, Andrea Riseborough and Brenda Blethyn, a surprise that left audiences buzzing and asking the question: What made this UK film stand out to the BJIFF jury?

The answer, according to two Tiantan judges, lies in the film's unflinching emotional resonance and unexpected craft. Speaking at a post-screening event at a Beijing cinema on Sunday night, Brazilian director Gabriel Mascaro and British composer Simon Franglen opened up about the jury's grueling decision-making process. 

While the panel initially sought to spread awards across multiple films, Dragonfly proved too compelling to overlook.

The judging process was no small feat, Mascaro revealed that the judges needed to watch three to four films a day, followed by hours of intense debate. He recalled that on the final night, they spent nearly three hours hashing out the winners, going back and forth until 2 am. 

"It was quite beautiful to be able to share our emotions and collectively to find common ideas of who would be awarded," he said.

For Mascaro, the film's greatest strength is its use of a son's perspective, which frames the story of two neighbors whose warm bond unravels under the pretense of "doing what's best." 

Colleen (Riseborough) and Elsie (Blethyn) start as kindred spirits, but their friendship crumbles amid misunderstanding and interference, a narrative choice that Mascaro says gives the film profound emotional weight. 

"Cinema is about connection. From the first scene that showed Colleen's hunched, guarded posture, we felt her loneliness. It pulled us in immediately," Mascaro noted.

The film depicts 35-year-old Colleen stepping in to care for 80-something Elsie after witnessing her neglect by caregivers. The two form an unlikely friendship, only for tragedy to strike when Elsie's son grows suspicious and intervenes. 

Franglen, who is British, brought a different lens. He praised the film's painstaking authenticity, from the kitchen sets to the corner shops. "It was so realistic to the experience of certain areas in Britain," he said. 

He described the screenplay's central achievement as creating two profoundly lonely figures who find solace in each other, only to have that fragile bond shattered. 

Franglen commented that the two actresses' performances are like "yin and yang," which are complementary and inseparable, explaining why the jury gave the Best Actress award to both women. "Both of them were so strong because of the connection between them."

Many Chinese moviegoers expressed that Dragonfly is a quiet, searing story, but one that taps into universal truths - loneliness, compassion, and the unintended consequences of good intentions - that transcend cultural borders.

"Seeing Elsie's loneliness and ­Colleen's kindness, it's easy to think of the elderly people living alone around us. Their longing for connection yet fear of being hurt is so empathetic," a viewer surnamed Li from Beijing's Chao­yang district told the Global Times after the screening. 

Beyond its artistic merits, Dragonfly's sweep at BJIFF also speaks to the festival's growing international stature. 

"Coming to BJIFF has been a revelation. We've connected with Chinese artists, learned about their culture, and found common ground through cinema. That's the power of this festival," Mascaro said.

Franglen, who has worked on Chinese films like Wolf Totem and splits his time between China and the UK, echoed that sentiment. 

He pointed out that cinema is a universal language, joking that he had "eaten better Chinese food here than anywhere else in the world." It's a lighthearted line, but it cuts to the core: Great films, like great food, don't need translation to move people.

Dragonfly's three Tiantan Award wins are not only a recognition of an outstanding British film, but also a cross-cultural aesthetic consensus: a good story, authentic performances and profound themes remain the most universal language of cinema.

The author is a reporter with the Global Times. life@globaltimes.com.cn