Asian Film Awards dominated by Chinese

(MACAUDAILYTIMES) ScoresofcelebritiesandAsianfilmstarsparadedontheredcarpetofthe10thAsianFilmAwards(AFA),heldlastnightatTheVenetianMacao,withoverwhelminglyChinesefilmmakersandactors

walkingawaywithprestigiousawardsinrecognitionoftheircontributionstotheAsianmovieindustry.

Ahostofpresenterstooktothestagelastnight,includingHongKongdirectorJohnnieTo,andChinesecelebritiesSeanLauandGaoYuanyuan,tointroducethenomineesandwinnersofvariouscategories.

Manyofthemcongratulatedtheawardceremonyonreachingitstenthedition,andsomeaddedthattheAFAhadaccomplishedmuchtobothpromotethecityofMacauandAsiancinema.

Chinese actress Zhou Yun poses after winning the Best Supporting Actress

ChineseDirectorLiQianKuan,whowasawardedtheAFAAcademyOutstandingContributionAward,toldaudiencesthathepersonally“looksforwardtomorefilmsthatfeatureMacauinthefuture.”

LifetimeAchievementAwardswerepresentedtoveteranHongKongactionchoreographer-director,YuenWo-ping,andvenerableJapaneseactressKirinKiki,honoringyearsofdistinguishedcontributiontoAsiancinema.

Thisyear“competitionwasfierce,”organizerssaid,with77nomineesof36filmsfromninecountriescompetingforthefinalAsianFilmAwardsacrossatotalof15categories.TherewerenumeroustopcontendersinAsiancinemasuchas“TheAssassin”,“MountainsMayDepart”,“MrSix”,“Veteran”,and“OurLittleSister.”

KoreanactorYooAh-in,whostarredin“Veteran”and“TheThrone”,receivedtheNextGenerationAwardinrecognitionofhisoutstandingandbreakthroughactingperformanceslastyear.

French actress Sophie Marceau

“TheAssassin”,ajointHongKong,TaiwanandmainlandChinamartialartsfilmdirectedbyHouHsiao-Hsien,wasawarded“BestFilm”duringtheceremony.Hou,whoisTaiwanese,wasalsopresentedwiththeawardforBestDirectorforhisworkonthesamefilm.

“BestActor”wenttoSouthKorea’sLeeByung-hunforhisleadingrolein“InsideMen”,apoliticalthrillerfilmthatdissectsthecorruptionwithinKoreansociety.Meanwhilethecounterpartaward,“BestActress”,wenttoShuQiforherleadingpartin“TheAssassin”,inwhichsheportraysakillerorderedtoslayunethicalgovernmentofficials.

Othernotablewinnerslastnightinclude,AsanoTadanobu(BestSupportingActor),ZhouYun(BestSupportingActress),JessieLi(BestNewcomer),andJiaZhangkewhowasawardedBestScreenplayfor“MountainsMayDepart”.

Additionally,MarkLee,LimGiong,andHwarngWern-yingwereallrecognizedattheAFAfortheircontributionsto“TheAssassin”;winningawardsforBestCinematography,BestOriginalMusic,andBestProductionDesign,respectively.ChuShih-Yi,TuDuu-ChihandWuShu-YaowerejointlyawardedBestSoundfortheirworkonthesamefilm.

Inotherareas,SouthKorea’sLeeJi-yeonandShimHyun-seobwonBestCostumeDesignfor“TheThrone”,whileIndia’sPrasadSutarwasawardedBestVisualEffectsforthefilm,“BajiraoMastani”.

WilfredWong,chairmanofSandsChina,tooktothestageatonepointlastnighttoexplaintheoriginsoftheAFA,nowinits10thyear.“TenyearsagoagroupoffilmenthusiastsgottogetheranddecidedthatwiththegrowthoftheAsianfilmindustry,whyaretherenoawards?”

“Sowesetuptheawards,”hecontinued,“topromoteaspaceforyoungfilmmakersandenthusiaststoshareideasandlearnfromeachother.WearedoingourbesttoensurethatAsianfilmscometotheforefront”intermsofinternationalrecognition.

Frenchactress,directorandscreenwriter,SophieMarceau,wasalsoinvitedonstageasaguestofhonor.

“InFranceweareveryfondofAsianmovies,”saidMarceau.“It’samazingtobepartofsomethinglikethis.”

MembersoftheBusanInternationalFilmFestival,theHongKongInternationalFilmFestival,andtheJapanFilmFestival–thethreepartnerorganizationsbehindtheAsianFilmAwards–werealsoinattendance,withsomeoftheirrepresentativesannouncingthewinnersofvariouscategories.DanielBeitler