Asian Film Awards return to town, nominees announced

The 9th Asian Film Awards (AFA), set to be held in Macau on March 25, feature 74 nominations and 42 films from eight countries, the Asian Film Awards Academy announced yesterday at a press conference in Hong Kong.
Film director and producer Mabel Cheung Yuen-ting has been appointed this year’s AFA jury president, the academy revealed.
The ceremony, this year sponsored by Sands Resorts Cotai Strip Macao and the Venetian Macao, will take place at the Venetian Theatre.
“Black Coal, Thin Ice,” (mainland China) “Blind Massage,” (mainland China) “Haider,” (India) “Hill of Freedom,” (South Korea) “Ode to My Father,” (South Korea) and the “The Light Shines Only There” (Japan) have been nominated for the Best Film category.
Nominees for Best Director include Lou Ye from mainland China with “Blind Massage,” Tsukamoto Shinya from Japan with “Fires on the Plain,” Lav Diaz from the Philippines with “From What Is Before,” and Vishal Bhardwaj from India with “Haider.” Film director Hong Sang-soo (“Hill of Freedom”) from South Korea and Ann Hui with “The Golden Era,” a joint production by Hong Kong and mainland China, were also nominated.
The AFA Academy said in a press release it recognizes and celebrates the achievements of Asian film productions in a total of 14 categories, namely Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor and Actress, Best Newcomer, Best Screenwriter, and Best Cinematographer, among others.
Competing films span several genres, from historical epics, romances, cop and courtroom dramas, to comedies, intense psychodramas, and horror films.
“This year the AFA received over 1,000 eligible films [applications] from 34 countries across Asia. The wide range of styles show the diversity, creativity and vitality of the region’s cinema,” the academy stated.
“The AFA is a formidable exercise. Each film has its own strengths fueled by the filmmakers’ passion, creative styles and captivating stories. With the high standard of work on display, we recognize the responsibility and challenge involved in voting for the winners,” jury president Mabel Cheung Yuen-ting said in a statement.
Wilfred Wong Ying-wai, chairman of the AFA Academy and the Hong Kong International Film Festival Society, added that “the developing network of filmmakers and film industries in the Asia-Pacific will strengthen the AFA and drive the globalization of Asian films.”
Popular Hong Kong actor Aaron Kwok has been appointed celebrity juror at this year’s AFA. He stated that, “as an actor who has participated in many Asian movies, mainly in Greater China, it is indeed a delight to witness the rise of Asian films and their positive reception worldwide. The Asian Film Awards is a brilliant platform for the Asian film industry to make positive progress as well as to encourage aspiring film professionals.”
Founded by the Hong Kong International Film Festival, Busan International Film Festival and Tokyo International Film Festival in late 2013, the AFA Academy is intended at promoting, developing and enriching Asian cinema, its talents and audiences by organizing the AFA, as well as a range of other programs across Asia.
Ciaran Carruthers, senior vice president and director of Venetian and Plaza Operations, Sands China Ltd., stated that the company is committed to bringing such “high-profile events to the city” as part of their multi-tiered entertainment strategy “to fulfill our promise to help develop Macau as a world center of tourism and leisure.” CP