Cover A still from ‘Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In’, which garnered eight nominations at the Asian Film Awards 2025 (Photo: courtesy of AFA)
A still from ‘Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In’, which garnered eight nominations at the Asian Film Awards 2025 (Photo: courtesy of AFA)
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Asian Film Awards, the region’s biggest film occasion, will return with 30 entries in March this year to Hong Kong Xiqu Centre
The Asian Film Awards will be held at Hong Kong’s Xiqu Centre on March 16, 2025. It brings 30 movies from 25 places, including South Korea, Japan, India, Taiwan and Turkey, to name a few.
Sean Lau and Michael Hui, both veteran Hong Kong actors, will compete for Best Actor for their roles in Papa and The Last Dance respectively. Golden Horse Best Actress Sylvia Chan from Taiwan, who starred in Daughter’s Daughter and South Korea’s Kim Go-eun, who was cast in Exhuma, are both popular choices for the Best Actress prize.
Exhuma, the South Korean horror film, has got nine nominations, the highest for any film at this year’s Asian Film Awards. This is followed by Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In (2024), the box-office-hit martial arts film set in Kowloon Walled City. It received eight nominations, including Best Film, Best Visual Effects and Best Cinematography, and Best Original Music.
In case you missed it: Soi Cheang on recreating Kowloon Walled City in his Oscar-nominated film and why we should preserve Hong Kong’s old architecture
Above The guests, jury members and committee of Asian Film Awards 2025 at the press conference (Photo: Tatler Hong Kong)
The guests, jury members and committee of Asian Film Awards 2025 at the press conference (Photo: Tatler Hong Kong)
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Famed Hong Kong martial arts choreographer Sammo Hung serves as the jury president this year. At the press conference in Tsim Sha Tsui today, January 10, he says, “I have high hopes for Asian films’ development. I hope our Hong Kong industry’s standard can keep up its good work too.”
This year, the festival features five ambassadors, including Japanese actor and singer-songwriter Dean Fujioka, who will attend the event in March. He says in a pre-recorded video at the press conference that he feels honoured to be named an ambassador this year. “Hong Kong is where I started my filmmaking career, and I’m looking forward to making Asian cinema even better with my fellow ambassadors.”
Above A key visual of Asian Film Awards 2025 (Image: courtesy of AFA)
A key visual of Asian Film Awards 2025 (Image: courtesy of AFA)
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Here is the full list of nominations.
Best Film
All We Imagine as Light (India, France, Netherlands, Luxembourg)
Black Dog (mainland China)
Exhuma (South Korea)
Teki Cometh (Japan)
Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In (Hong Kong)
Best Director
Payal Kapadia (All We Imagine as Light)
Guan Hu (Black Dog)
Jang Jae-hyun (Exhuma)
Rithy Panh (Meeting with Pol Pot)
Yoshida Daihachi (Teki Cometh)
Best Actor
Eddie Peng (Black Dog)
Choi Min-sik (Exhuma)
Sean Lau (Papa)
Nagatsuka Kyozo (Teki Cometh)
Michael Hui (The Last Dance)
Best Actress
Kani Kusruti (All We Imagine as Light)
Sylvia Chang (Daughter’s Daughter)
Kawai Yuumi (Desert of Namibia)
Kim Go-eun (Exhuma)
Shahana Goswami (Santosh)
Best Supporting Actor
Mitsuishi Ken (All the Long Nights)
Ikematsu Sosuke (My Sunshine)
Lee Kang-Sheng (Stranger Eyes)
Chu Pak Hong (The Last Dance)
Philip Ng (Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In)
Best Supporting Actress
Maggie Li Lin Lin (All Shall Be Well)
Divya Prabha (All We Imagine as Light)
Lim Ji-yeon (Revolver)
Takiuchi Kumi (Teki Cometh)
Yang Kuei-Mei (Yen and Ai-Lee)
Best New Director
Yamanaka Yoko Desert of Namibia
Sora Neo (Happyend)
Dong Zijian (My Friend An Delie)
Sandhya Ruri (Santosh)
Truong Minh Quy (Viêt and Nam)
Best Newcomer
Lee Do-hyun (Exhuma)
Kurihara Hayato (Happyend)
Putthipong Assaratanakul (How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies)
Dylan So (Papa)
Duy Bao Dinh Dao (Viêt and Nam)
Best Screenplay
Wada Kiyoto, Miyake Sho (All the Long Nights)
Payal Kapadia (All We Imagine as Light)
Jang Jae-hyun (Exhuma)
Pierre ERWAN Guillaume, Rithy Ranh (Meeting with Pol Pot)
Mohammad Rasoulof (The Seed of the Sacred Fig)
Best Costume Design
Yang Donglin (A Tapestry of a Legendary Land)
Choi Yoon-sun (Exhuma)
Dorjee Dradhul Gurung (Shambhala)
Miyamoto Mari (Teki Cometh)
Bruce Yu, Karen Yip (Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In)
Best Production Design
Huo Tingxiao, LI Chang (Black Dog)
Pham Phong Lan (Don't Cry, Butterfly)
Seo Sung-kyung (Exhuma)
Hayashida Yuji (The Box Man)
Kenneth Mak, Chau Sai Hung Ambrose (Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In)
Best Editing
Clément PINTEAUXAll (We Imagine as Light)
Rithy Panh, Matthieu Laclau (Meeting with Pol Pot)
William Chang Suk Ping (My Friend An Delie)
Jojo Shek (Papa)
Cheung Ka Fai (Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In)
Best Cinematography
Hong Kyeong-pyo (Harbin)
LV Songye (My Friend An Delie)
Aziz Zhambakiyev (Shambhala)
Shinomiya Hidetoshi (Teki Cometh)
Cheng Siu Keung (Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In)
Best Original Music
Hi’Spec (All the Long Nights)
Kim Tae-sung (Exhuma)
Katsumoto Michiaki (The Box Man)
Chu Wan Pin (The Last Dance)
Kawai Kenji (Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In)
Best Visual Effects
Danny Yin (Black Dog)
Sato Fumiro, Kobari Yasuhiro (Black Ox)
Tomi Kuo, Chiu Chun-Yi (Dead Talents Society)
Kim Shin-chul, Daniel Son (Exhuma)
Lin Chun Yue Jules, Ma Siu Fu, Garrett K Lam, Yee Kwok Leung (Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In)
Best Sound
Zurab Kurmanbayev (Cadet)
Kim Byung-in (Exhuma)
Tu Duu-Chih, Tu Tse-Kang (Stranger Eyes)
Yiu Chun Hin, Cheung Man Hoi, To Burnard Davy (Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In)
Vincent Villa (Viêt and Nam)
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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.
