11th Asian Film Awards Winners Announced

(March 22, 2017, Hong Kong) Organized by the Asian Film Awards Academy (AFA Academy) with the financial support of Create Hong Kong and Hong Kong Film Development Fund, the 11th Asian Film Awards (AFA) was held yesterday on March 21, 2017 (Tuesday) at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre.

The final winners were announced last night on the ceremony - Best Film goes to I Am Not Madame Bovary (Mainland China) directed by FENG Xiaogang; Best Director is NA Hong-jin for The Wailing (South Korean); Japanese actor ASANO Tadanobu wins Best Actor for his role in Harmonium (Japan). ASANO has also won the Best Supporting Actor award last year for Journey to the Shore (France, Japan); Best Actress is Chinese actress FAN Bingbing for her role in I Am Not Madame Bovary (Mainland China); Best Supporting Actor goes to Hong Kong actor LAM Suet for his role in Trivisa (Hong Kong); South Korean actresses MOON So-ri & KIM Tae-ri are named Best Supporting Actress & Best Newcomer respectively, for their roles in The Handmaiden (South Korea).

Technical awards winners are: Best Screenplay: Asghar FARHADI, The Salesman (Iran, France); Best Editing: Lee CHATAMETIKOOL & Natalie SOH, Apprentice (Singapore, Germany, France, Hong Kong, Qatar); Best Cinematography: LUO Pan, I Am Not Madame Bovary (Mainland China); Best Original Music: MOWG, The Age of Shadows (South Korea); Best Costume Design: CHO Sang-kyung, The Handmaiden (South Korea); Best Production Design: RYU Seong-hie, The Handmaiden (South Korea); Best Visual Effects: OHYA Tetsuo, Shin Godzilla (Japan); and Best Sound: FANG Tao & HAO Zhiyu, Crosscurrent (Mainland China).

Hong Kong filmmaker TSUI Hark accepted the Lifetime Achievement Award, as a recognition of his fundamental achievements and a lasting impact of outstanding artistic, cultural and commercial significance in Asian cinema. Hong Kong actress-singer Sammi CHENG Sau-man accepted the Excellence in Asian Cinema Award, as a recognition of her distinguished talents and affirmation of her achievements and contributions to Asian film industry and culture.
Chinese young actress Jelly LIN, who is nominated as Best Newcomer for her leading role in Mermaid, received the Rising Star of Asia Award for her exceptional talent and breakthrough in Asian cinema in the past year.

This year, 73 nominees of 34 films from 12 countries competed for the final Asian Film Awards in 15 categories. South Korean film The Handmaiden, directed by PARK Chan-wook, has won four awards out of six nominations, including Best Supporting Actress, Best Newcomer, Best Costume Design and Best Production Design. FENG Xiaogang’s I Am Not Madame Bovary, has won three out of five nominations, including Best Film, Best Actress and Best Cinematography.

Asian Film Awards (AFA)
Inaugurated in 2007, the Asian Film Awards celebrates excellence in Asian cinema through the annual presentation of awards to talents and films that make up the dynamic film industries of Asia. Awards night is a spectacular gathering of stars, celebrities, industry professionals and the media that highlights and publicizes the year’s achievements in Asian movies.
Presented in Hong Kong in its first seven years, the Awards moved to one of Asia’s fastest growing entertainment hubs, Macau, in 2014 – one step closer to its long-term plan of being held in different Asian cities to reflect its broad reach across the entire region.

Asian Film Awards Academy (AFAA)
In 2013, three main Asian film festivals – Busan, Hong Kong and Tokyo – joined together to create the non-profit organization, the Asian Film Awards Academy to promote and develop Asian cinema and its talents. The AFA Academy highlights, strengthens and develops Asian film industry and culture through the annual Asian Film Awards, and several year-round initiatives including strategies for building regional and international audiences.
Members of the AFA Academy are drawn from all past nominees and winners of the Asian Film Awards. Members vote for the Asian Film Awards and also participate in various AFA Academy activities involving film professionals and audiences in Asia and around the world.
In 2015, the AFA Academy launched events and activities including the Masterclass Series, Journey to the Fest, Asian Cinerama and Young Film Professionals Program to promote, educate, inform and develop knowledge, skills and interest in Asian cinema among the industry, students and audiences in Asia and beyond. The AFA Academy expresses the increasing global importance and creative strengths of Asian films and aims to unite the industries and talents of the fast-growing region.

Create Hong Kong
Create Hong Kong is a dedicated office set up under the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region on 1 June 2009 to lead, champion and drive the development of the creative economy in Hong Kong. It co-ordinates Government policy and effort regarding creative industries, focuses Government resources for the promotion and speeding up of the development of creative industries in Hong Kong, and works closely with the trade to boost the development of creative industries. For more details, visit www.createhk.gov.hk/.

The Hong Kong Film Development Fund
The Hong Kong Film Development Fund was first set up by the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in 1999 to fund projects and activities which contribute towards the development of the
Hong Kong film industry, including part-financing small-to-medium budget film productions; enhancing efforts to promote Hong Kong films in the Mainland and overseas; enhancing initiatives to train talents in various aspects of film production and distribution; and enhancing the interest and appreciation of Hong Kong films by the local audience. For more details, visit www.fdc.gov.hk/tc/services/services2.htm.