In the midst of all the Oscar-related buzz, our own city had also hosted the 17th Asian Film Awards (AFA) on Sunday, March 10 at the Xiqu Centre. Celebrating excellence in Asian cinema, the Asian Film Awards Academy voted from a score of films and silver screen professionals from South Korea, Hong Kong, and Japan, to Sri Lanka, mainland China, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Kazakhstan.
Japan topped the awards list this year, winning Best Film for Evil Does Not Exist, Best Director for Kore-eda Hirokazu, and Best Actor for Yakusho Koji, but Hong Kong also took home a range of accolades. Nick Cheuk won the Best New Director award for his film Time Still Turns The Pages, a drama about a secondary school teacher whose attempts to help a suicidal student end up triggering his own childhood traumas. As a screenwriter, Cheuk had also previously worked on Zombiology: Enjoy Yourself Tonight (2017) and Paradox (2017).
Other wins for Hong Kong include Rachel Leung, who took home Best Supporting Actress for crime drama In Broad Daylight. Crime drama The Goldfinger, starring Hong Kong film heavyweights Tony Leung and Andy Lau, won in two categories at this year’s AFA, with Best Costume Design and Best Production Design awarded to Man Lim-chung and Eric Lam, respectively. See the full list of nominees and winners at the Asian Film Awards’ official website.
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