First Asian Film Awards shine HK film festival

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-03-22 14:52

Asian Film Awards, the first organized by Hong Kong International Film Festival aiming at appreciating the talent of Asian film makers, made a glamour debut by drawing stars both within and out of the region.

Among the stars Tuesday night were French director Luc Besson, Hong Kong entertainment ambassador Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, Hong Kong actor Andy Lau, star of "Infernal Affairs", Bond girl Michelle Yeoh and South Korean pop star and actor Rain.

Yet, the most shining star during the awards was South Korean film "Host", which swept 4 awards among 10, including the best movie, best actor, best cinematographer and best visual effects.

Leading star of the monster film, Song Kang-Ho beats the hottest nominees such as Andy Lau and South Korean star Rain by acting as a slow-witted man fighting to rescue his daughter abducted by a monster.

The other 6 awards shared equally by other 6 regions. Chinese director Jia Zhang-Ke, won best director by his Venice Film Festival winner "Still Life", a story about the impact of three gorges dam on common people's life.

Hong Kong film designer Tim Yip Kam-tim won the best production design in "The Banquet", the only winner among Hong Kong nominees. Some analysts believed that it was a smart move to show the Asian Film Awards here although most of the Hong Kong nominees left with an empty hand.

Japanese actress Miki Nakatani defeated Gong Li and Zhang Ziyi wining the best actress by "Memories of Matsuko". Iran writer ManiHaghighi won best screenwriter in "Man at Work", beating the "Crazy Stone", a small budget movie but a surprise box winner in the Chinese Mainland.

Indonesia's Rahayu Supanggah won best composer in "Opera Jawa" and best editor title went to Lee Chatametikool of Thailand in "Syndromes and a Century".

The Chairman of the 31st Hong Kong International Film Festival said before the awards ceremony that Hong Kong film production had been seeking ways to break its bottleneck during the past years but could not find a way so far. Both the government and the film workers want to make a contribution in this regard.

And the 3 billion Hong Kong dollars film development fund proposed in Hong Kong government budget this year may be to rebuild Hong Kong film industry which was a brilliant industry on the international film stage.

Analysts admitted that the Asian Film Awards plus a three week long festival may not be enough to reach the target of promoting Hong Kong film industry but it is a good start at least in this field.