by Nathaniel R
The Asian Film Awards, which used to be held early in the year are now a fall event, organized jointly with the Hong Kong, Busan, and Tokyo Film Festivals. The prizes were divvied up across multiple countries so there's a little something for everyone though the big winner was Japan's Wife of a Spy (a winner at Venice in 2020) which took Best Film, Best Actress, and Best Costume Design and recently had a brief US theatrical release from Kino Lorber. South Korea's Voice of Silence also made a fine showing taking Best New Director and Best Actor for popular 35 year-old star Yoo Ah-In (Burning and #Alive). Most of the films honored are 2020 films so dont expect much of a direct correlation between what countries submit to the Oscars this year as most of these were eligible for submission last season. The full list of nominees and winners is after the jump...
Best Film
The only one of these that is eligible for Oscar submission this season is Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy, which just played the NYFF and is firmly a 2021 film.
Best Director
Zhang Yimou is China's most internationally celebrated director but One Second, about the friendship between a cinephile in a remote farmland and a homeless female is not Oscar eligible this season as it was released at home in 2020 and Oscar's calendar last season for international submissions ran til the end of 2020 for the international category (three months longer than usual)
Best Actor
Congrats to Yoo Ah-in who has not a single line in his movie (though the reason for his silence is, we hear, not explained).
You may remember that the gay drama Dear Tenant was a player in the Golden Horse Awards last year. We're dying to see it but no US release still, not even on streaming.
Best Actress
Chen Shu-Fang won the Golden Horse last season and you can see Little Big Women on Netflix now. But she lost to Aoi Yu here for Wife of a Spy.
Best Supporting Actor
Best Supporting Actress
True Mothers was Japan's Oscar submission last season.
Best New Director
Best Newcomer
Best Cinematography
Continuing the current hot world cinema trend of returning to black and white cinema, The Wasteland takes it. It's the story of a factory supervisor caught between the boss and the workers and trying to protect the woman he loves.
Any Crybabies Around? about a man who embarrasses his family by being drunk and naked on national television during a sacred festival is streaming on Netflix. Yellowcat is on MUBI.
Best Screenplay
The Disciple, a musician biopic, made the festival rounds in 2020. My Missing Valentine, a romantic comedy, was the top winner at last year's Golden Horse Awards.
Best Editing
Best Original Music
Best Costume Design
Best Production Design
Limbo is a crime drama about a serial killer of women.
Best Visual Effects
The Eight Hundred is a war film, rentable on multiple services and free if you have a subscription to Viki.
Best Sound
Space Sweepers is a sci-fi actioner currently streaming on Netflix.
Excellence in Asian Cinema Award
The 51 year old international star got the lifetime achievement style honors. His credits include US action flicks and homegrown classics: I Saw the Devil, Terminator Genysis, GI Joe: Retaliation, Joint Security Area, A Bittersweet Life, The Magnificent Seven, The Age of Shadows, Man Standing Next, and Squid Game. Next up is The Match with Yoo Ah-in and a disaster epic Concrete Utopia with Parasite's Park Seo Jun.
Highest Grossing Asian Film of 2020
Demon Slayer is streamable with a subscription on Funimation Now or available for purchase at multiple outlets.