Cover Thai star Win Metawin at the Asian Film Awards held at the Xiqu Centre in Hong Kong (Photo: courtesy of Asian Film Awards)
Thai star Win Metawin at the Asian Film Awards held at the Xiqu Centre in Hong Kong (Photo: courtesy of Asian Film Awards)
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We also had Tony Leung, Carina Lau, Lee Young-ae, Rachel Leung, Suzuki Ryohei, Jiang Qinqin and more bringing the glitz and glamour to the red carpet, all while celebrating Asian cinematic excellence
The Asian Film Awards (AFA), which celebrates film productions across Asia every year, was held yesterday evening, March 10, at West Kowloon’s Xiqu Centre, with A-listers including Chinese actress Fan Bingbing, Oscar-winning costume designer Tim Yip and 12-year-old Golden Horse Best Actress Audrey Lin coming to Hong Kong for the event.
One of the most eagerly awaited guests of the evening was Metawin “Win” Opas-iamkajorn (better known as Win Metawin), who received the AFA Rising Star Award. Other notable attendees included Hong Kong actors Tony Leung and Carina Lau, Chinese director Zhang Yimou—who received the Lifetime Achievement Award—and South Korean singer Kwon Yu-ri of K-pop girl group Girls Generation.
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Hong Kong erhu player Wan Pin Chu, known for recording the scores for Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019) and Chasing the Dragon (2017), kicked off the ceremony at the Grand Theatre with an energetic performance. Afterwards, the ceremony to celebrate the films released in the past year was hosted by Canadian actress Grace Chan and Hong Kong TV actor Sammy Leung.
Evil Does Not Exist, a film structured around the nature-civilization divide by Japanese director Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, won in the Best Film and Best Original Music categories. The Best Actress award went to Chinese actress Jiang Qinqin, whose performance as a single mother who falls for a pyramid scheme in Dwelling by the West Lake was an emotional roller coaster for the audiences. The Best Director award went to Kore-eda Hirokazu for Monster, a thriller surrounding a schoolboy’s strange behaviours. The late Tibetan director Pema Tseden’s Snow Leopard, a visually breathtaking film about the relationship between a snow leopard and the Tibetan community, won Best Screenplay.
The Best Actor award went to Japanese actor Yakusho Koji, who played a toilet cleaner in Perfect Days. Koji had previously also received the Best Actor accolade at Cannes for this same role.
Above Rachel Leung (Photo: courtesy of Asian Film Awards)
Above From left: Lee Young-ae and Suzuki Ryohei (Photo: courtesy of Asian Film Awards)
Rachel Leung (Photo: courtesy of Asian Film Awards)
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Hong Kong filmmakers also picked up a fair share of the prizes; Nick Cheuk took home the Best New Director award for his directorial debut Time Still Turns the Pages, a feature film about youth suicide. Rachel Leung won Best Supporting Actress for her role in In Broad Daylight, a production about elderly care home abuse.
Another highlight was South Korean actress Lee Young-ae receiving the Excellence in Asian Cinema award. She is most remembered for her role in the drama series Dae Jang Geum (2003); and for playing a ruthless killer in South Korean director Park Chan-wook’s thriller Lady Vengeance (2005). “I hope to show you better acting in the future [still],” she said onstage.
Japanese actor Suzuki Ryohei, who also got the Excellence in Asian Cinema award, summed up the event in the best way possible in his speech. “Of course, getting awards is very important and exciting, but the best thing…is meeting new people from all over Asia, talking to them, learning [from] each other, and hopefully we can start a new project together. Tonight can be the start of a new project in the future. And I hope to make a film together someday because [like AFA’s theme this year], together we tell story.”
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Zabrina is the Senior Editor, Arts and Culture of Tatler Hong Kong. She specialises in performing arts, visual art and film. Her wanderlust was first fuelled by the Mighty Rovers Antarctica Expedition 2010. Over the years, she has interviewed A-list artists and filmmakers, including Oscar winners Chlóe Zhao and Tim Yip, Golden Horse winner Sylvia Chang, In the Mood for Love cinematographer Christopher Doyle, Pachinko author Min Jin Lee, and Coachella’s first Chinese solo singer Jackson Wang. She won gold at the WAN-IFRA Asian Media Awards for her 2021 feature on the waves of hate crimes targeting Asian Americans.
