TheAsian Film Awardsare presented annually by the Asian Film Awards Academy to recognise the excellence of the film professionals in thefilm industriesofAsian cinema.

Asian Film Awards
Current:18th Asian Film Awards
Awarded forExcellence incinematicachievements
Location
CountryAsia
Presented byHong Kong International Film Festival Society(2007–2012)
Asian Film Awards Academy (2013–present)
First award2007
Final award2024
Websitewww.afa-academy
16th· Current:18th ·19th →

History

edit
The former Asian Film Awards trophy designed byWilliam Changused in the3rd Asian Film Awardsin 2009.

On January 29, 2007, Wilfred Wong, the Chairman of Hong Kong International Film Festival Society, announced the launch of the Asian Film Awards (AFA).[1]The 1st Asian Film Awards occurred on March 20, 2007, on the opening night of the 31st Hong Kong International Film Festival (HKIFF) inHong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre.It honoured the best film achievements of the Asian cinema in the year 2006. It was attended by about 4000 guests from around the world.[2]

The AFA Presentation Ceremony takes place as part of the Entertainment Expo Hong Kong Opening Gala. Eminent filmmakers and superstars from around the world are invited to bestow awards upon the winner(s) of each category, making the ceremony a dazzling extravaganza as well as an influential cultural event.[3]

Throughout its history and since its inauguration in 2007, Chinese-language films and professionals from China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong have dominated the awards.[4][5][6][7]

The trophy

edit

On February 13, 2007, theHong Kong Trade Development Councilhosted a celebration ofPark Chan-wook'sI'm a Cyborg, But That's OKannouncement of being the opening film for the 31st Hong Kong International Film Festival at a reception inBerlin.At the same event the AFA trophy, designed by award-winning production designer,William Chang,was also unveiled.[8]

According to William Chang, his inspiration behind the artwork was his admiration to a combination ofarchitectural drawingsand his own collection of antiquestatues.Measuring 36 cm (14 in), the trophy symbolises the joy and the accomplishment of all the award winners.[9]

The current trophy is gold as a whole but had changed significantly before. The first trophies that were handed in 2007 has its trophy in black with a white base. In the 2nd AFA, the current gold colour was used as whole but in 2009 for its 3rd AFA instead of a gold base, it has a black base. Then in 2010, the whole gold trophy had returned and now used nowadays.

Eligibility, nominations and voting

edit

To be eligible, films must be feature length (more than 60 minutes); be in 35mm or 70mm film format or digital format suitable for exhibition in cinemas; and be fiction films fromAsia.This encompasses all thecinemas of Asia:East Asia,Central Asia,South Asia,Southeast AsiaandWest Asia.Additionally, the films must haveEnglishsubtitles.

The films must have been released between January 1 and December 31 of the year preceding the awards ceremony, and have been exhibited through a domestic theatrical release and distribution to at least one other country; been premiered at an internationalfilm festival;or received national film awards.

The Hong Kong International Film Festival Society compile the preliminary nomination list with the participation of the two parties who can submit films for the consideration to be included in the nomination list which are:

  • the Asian Film Awards Official Submission Organisations are composed of recognised film organizations from different Asian territories. Each Official Submission Organisation can submit up to three films to represent their territory.
  • the Asian Film Awards Jury is composed of film professionals from around the world. Each Jury Member can recommend up to two additional nominations in each Category.

After the Society finalised the nomination list, the Jury and the Voting Members (composed of previous winners from past AFA) would then vote in an Online Balloting System where it would be counted, tallied and kept confidential until the day of the AFA by a reputable firm of certified public accountants.

Award categories

edit

Special awards

edit

These special awards are not always presented on a consistent annual basis. The Society chooses the special awards to be given for a certain year.

  • Asian Film Award for Excellence in Scholarship in Asian Cinema
  • Asian Film Award for Outstanding Contribution to Asian Cinema*
  • Nielsen Box Office Star of Asia Award*
  • Lifetime Achievement Award: since 2008
  • The Edward Yang New Talent Award: since 2008
  • The Asian Film Award for Top-Grossing Film Director: since 2009
  • The Asian Film Award for Top-Grossing Asian Film: since 2011
  • Award for the Promotion of Asian Cinema: since 2011
  • Excellence in Asian Cinema Award: since 2013
  • The Next Generation Award: since 2016

People's Choice awards

edit
  • People's Choice for the Best Asian Film: 2009 (defunct)
  • People's Choice for Best Actor*:since 2010
  • People's Choice for Best Actress*:since 2010

^*The asterisk indicates the awards that were renamed for a certain Asian Film Awards Presentation Ceremony. Their first and original names are used in this list.

Major award winners

edit
Year Best Film Best Director Best Actor Best Actress Best Supporting Actor Best Supporting Actress Best New Director
2007
1st
The Host Jia Zhangke
forStill Life
Song Kang-ho
forThe Host
Miki Nakatani
forMemories of Matsuko
No award No award No award
2008
2nd
Secret Sunshine Lee Chang-dong
forSecret Sunshine
Tony Leung
forLust, Caution
Jeon Do-yeon
forSecret Sunshine
Sun Honglei
forMongol
Joan Chen
forThe Sun Also Rises
2009
3rd
Tokyo Sonata Hirokazu Kore-eda
forStill Walking
Masahiro Motoki
forDepartures
Zhou Xun
forThe Equation of Love and Death
Jung Woo-sung
forThe Good, the Bad, the Weird
Gina Pareño
forService
2010
4th
Mother Lu Chuan
forCity of Life and Death
Wang Xueqi
forBodyguards and Assassins
Kim Hye-ja
forMother
Nicholas Tse
forBodyguards and Assassins
Kara Hui
forAt the End of Daybreak
2011
5th
Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives Lee Chang-dong
forPoetry
Ha Jung-woo
forThe Yellow Sea
Xu Fan
forAftershock
Sammo Hung
forIp Man 2
Youn Yuh-jung
forThe Housemaid
2012
6th
A Separation Asghar Farhadi
forA Separation
Donny Damara
forLovely Man
Deanie Ip
forA Simple Life
Lawrence Ko
forJump Ashin!
Shamaine Buencamino
forNiño
2013
7th
Mystery Takeshi Kitano
forOutrage Beyond
Eddie Garcia
forBwakaw
Nora Aunor
forThy Womb
Nawazuddin Siddiqui
forTalaash: The Answer Lies Within
Makiko Watanabe
forCapturing Dad
2014
8th
The Grandmaster Wong Kar-wai
forThe Grandmaster
Irrfan Khan
forThe Lunchbox
Zhang Ziyi
forThe Grandmaster
Huang Bo
No Man's Land
Yeo Yann Yann
forIlo Ilo
2015
9th
Blind Massage Ann Hui
forThe Golden Era
Liao Fan
forBlack Coal, Thin Ice
Bae Doona
forA Girl at My Door
Wang Zhiwen
The Golden Era
Ikewaki Chizuru
forThe Light Shines Only There
2016
10th
The Assassin Hou Hsiao-hsien
forThe Assassin
Lee Byung-hun
forInside Men
Shu Qi
forThe Assassin
Asano Tadanobu
forJourney to the Shore
Zhou Yun
forThe Assassin
2017
11th
I Am Not Madame Bovary Na Hong-jin
forThe Wailing
Asano Tadanobu
forHarmonium
Fan Bingbing
forI Am Not Madame Bovary
Lam Suet
forTrivisa
Moon So-ri
forThe Handmaiden
2018
12th
Youth Yuya Ishii
forThe Tokyo Night Sky Is Always the Densest Shade of Blue
Louis Koo
forParadox
Sylvia Chang
forLove Education
Yang Ik-june
forWilderness
Zhang Yuqi
forLegend of the Demon Cat
Dong Yue
forThe Looming Storm
2019
13th
Shoplifters Lee Chang-dong
forBurning
Kōji Yakusho
forThe Blood of Wolves
Samal Yeslyamova
forAyka
Zhang Yu
forDying to Survive
Kara Hui
forTracey
Oliver Siu Kuen Chan
forStill Human
2020
14th
Parasite Wang Xiaoshuai
forSo Long, My Son
Lee Byung-hun
forThe Man Standing Next
Zhou Dongyu
forBetter Days
Ryo Kase
forTo the Ends of the Earth
Ko Shu-chin
forA Sun
Hikari
for37 Seconds
2021
15th
Wife of a Spy Zhang Yimou
forOne Second
Yoo Ah-in
forVoice of Silence
Yū Aoi
forWife of a Spy
Kim Hyun-bin
forThe Silent Forest
Aju Makita
forTrue Mothers
Hong Eui-jeong
forVoice of Silence
2022
16th
Drive My Car Hirokazu Kore-eda
forBroker
Tony Leung Chiu-wai
forWhere the Wind Blows
Tang Wei
forDecision to Leave
Hio Miyazawa
forEgoist
Kim So-jin
forEmergency Declaration
Jigme Trinley
forOne and Four
2023
17th
Evil Does Not Exist Hirokazu Kore-eda
forMonster
Koji Yakusho
forPerfect Days
Jiang Qinqin
forDwelling by the West Lake
Park Hoon
for12.12: The Day
Rachel Leung
forIn Broad Daylight
Nick Cheuk
forTime Still Turns the Pages

Presentation ceremonies

edit

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. ^"33 FILMS COMPETE FOR 1st ASIAN FILM AWARDS".Asian Film Awards. 29 January 2007. Archived fromthe originalon 28 March 2012.Retrieved26 March2012.
  2. ^"'THE HOST' TAKES TOP HONORS AT ASIAN FILM AWARDS "(PDF).Asian Film Awards. 20 March 2007. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 4 March 2016.Retrieved26 March2012.
  3. ^"Introduction- Asian Film Awards".Asian Film Awards. 26 March 2012. Archived fromthe originalon 21 March 2012.Retrieved26 March2012.
  4. ^"Nominees & Winners".Asian Film Awards. Archived fromthe originalon 9 August 2014.Retrieved24 March2017.
  5. ^"ASIAN FILM AWARDS DOMINATED BY CHINESE".Macau Daily Times.Archivedfrom the original on 15 September 2017.Retrieved24 March2017.
  6. ^"'Blind Massage' The Big Winner as China Dominates Asian Film Awards ".The Wall Street Journal.Archivedfrom the original on 17 May 2017.Retrieved24 March2017.
  7. ^"'Madame Bovary' Takes Top Prize at Asian Film Awards ".Variety. 21 March 2017.Archivedfrom the original on 18 March 2018.Retrieved24 March2017.
  8. ^"BERLINALE CONTENDER" I'M A CYBORG, BUT THAT'S OK "TO OPEN 2007 HONG KONG INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL".Asian Film Awards. 13 February 2007. Archived fromthe originalon 28 March 2012.Retrieved26 March2012.
  9. ^"Trophy- Asian Film Awards".Asian Film Awards. 26 March 2012. Archived fromthe originalon 27 March 2012.Retrieved26 March2012.
  10. ^Song Il-seop (8 October 2021)."[MD포토] 김규리-이승국, '저희가 사회 맡았어요'"[[MD Photo] Gyu-ri Kim and Seung-guk Lee, 'We hosted the show'].My Daily(in Korean). Naver.Archivedfrom the original on 8 October 2021.Retrieved8 October2021.
  11. ^Sabastian Nadilo (8 October 2021)."15th Asian Film Awards – Winners 2021".Asian Film Festivals.Archivedfrom the original on 8 October 2021.Retrieved9 October2021.
  12. ^Kim Bo-young (6 January 2023)."'헤어질 결심', AFA 10개 부문 노미네이트…아이유 신인상 후보 [공식] "['Decision to break up', nominated in 10 AFA categories... IU Rookie Award Candidate [Official]].E-Daily Star(in Korean). Naver.Archivedfrom the original on 6 January 2023.Retrieved6 January2023.
  13. ^"[16th AFA]'헤어질 결심' 3관왕 달성..양조위·탕웨이 남녀주연상(종합)"[[16th AFA] 'Decision to Break Up' achieved 3 crowns.].Herald POP(in Korean). Naver. 12 March 2023.Archivedfrom the original on 12 March 2023.Retrieved12 March2023.
edit