5th Asian Film Awards: Uncle Boonmee Wins Best Film, Poetry Best Director

With Hong Kong International Film Festival having just opened on 20th, the 5th Asian film awards ceremony were held last night. This year, there was not one film that swept the awards, but it clearly was another strong year for South Korean films. Lee Chang-Dong’s “Poetry” earned him both the Best Director and the Best Screenplay award, while Korean thesp Ha Jung-woo won the Best Actor award for his performance in “The Yellow Sea”. Another Korean winner was Yoon Yeo-jeong, who won the best supporting actress for her role in “The Housemaid”.

The Chinese film “Let The Bullets Fly” was nominated for six awards, but only grabbed the Best Costume Design award. Another hot favorite before the results were known was “Aftershock”, a Chinese mainland and Hong Kong co-production based on the tragic story of the aftermath of Tangshan Great Earthquake, earned Best Visual Effect and Chinese actress Xu Fan the Best Actress award.

The fan favorite “Ip Man 2” earned veteran action star Sammo Hung Kam-po the Best Supporting Actor award. The top ward of Best Film was given to the Palme d’Or winner “Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Live” — making it the first Thai film to do so in the category that had been dominated by Korean films.

Also worth noting, Kim Dong-ho, the founding director of Pusan International film festival, was given the award for outstanding contribution to cinema. The Hong Kong film producer Raymond Chow received a Lifetime Achievement Award for helping the Hong Kong Kung Fu and action cinema come to the international stage and discovering stars like Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan.

Here’s the complete list of winners:

BEST FILM: UNCLE BOONMEE WHO CAN RECALL HIS PAST LIVES (Thailand)
BEST DIRECTOR: LEE Chang-dong / POETRY (South Korea)
BEST ACTOR: HA Jung-woo / THE YELLOW SEA (South Korea)
BEST ACTRESS: XU Fan / AFTERSHOCK (Mainland China / Hong Kong)
BEST NEWCOMER: Mark CHAO You-Ting / MONGA (Taiwan)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Sammo HUNG Kam-po / IP MAN 2 (Hong Kong)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: YOON Yeo-jeong / THE HOUSEMAID (South Korea)
BEST SCREENPLAY:LEE Chang-dong / POETRY (South Korea)
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHER:Mark LEE Ping-Bin / NORWEGIAN WOOD (Japan)
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGNER: HAYASHIDA Yuji / 13 ASSASSINS (Japan)
BEST MUSIC SCORE: Indian Ocean / PEEPLI LIVE (India)
BEST EDITING:NAM Na-young / I SAW THE DEVIL (South Korea)
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS: Phil JONES, ZHANG Yan-ming / AFTERSHOCK (Mainland China/ Hong
Kong)
BEST COSTUME DESIGNER: William CHANG Suk-ping / LET THE BULLETS FLY (Mainland China /
Hong Kong)

The recipients of the special awards of the 5Th AFA are:
The Asian Film Award for Outstanding Contribution to Asian Cinema
KIM Dong-ho
The Asian Film Award for Lifetime Achievement Award
Raymond CHOW
“The Promotion of Asian Cinema” award
Fortissimo Films
The Asian Film Award for 2010’s Top-Grossing Film
AFTERSHOCK