HONG KONG -- South Korean monster movie The Host swept the inaugural Asian Film Awards here Tuesday, taking prizes for best film, actor, cinematographer and visual effects.
The awards opened the third annual Hong Kong Entertainment Expo, bringing international attention to 10 films made east of Egypt and giving prestige to the biggest film festival between Berlin and Cannes.
Organized by the concurrent Hong Kong International Film Festival, the winners were chosen from a field of 65 nominees drawn from 700 entries made in countries from Iran to Indonesia and Japan to Singapore.
" 'The Host' is showing in China right now, and this award will help it get more of an audience," producer Choi Yong Bae said in accepting the best film award. Director Bong Joon-Ho's film has topped China's boxoffice for the past two weekends and earned about $90 million worldwide.
Mainland Chinese helmer Jia Zhangke thanked his mother in accepting the best director award for Still Life. I love you, mom, said Jia, whose film about changes brought on by China's Three Gorges Dam project won the Golden Lion last year at Venice.
In presenting the best film award, Raphael Hui, Hong Kong's chief secretary for administration said: "For Asian cinema, the past year has been an embarrassment -- an embarrassment of riches. Asian films are now a major force of filmmaking in the world."
Winners were chosen by a jury of 17 film professionals that included the directors or programrs of the Berlin, Cannes, Hong Kong, Pusan, Tokyo and Venice film festivals; the managing director of CAA in China; critics from India, Thailand and the U.S.; a producer from Taiwan; and officials from government film agencies in South Korea and China.
The awards opened the third annual Hong Kong Entertainment Expo, bringing international attention to 10 films made east of Egypt and giving prestige to the biggest film festival between Berlin and Cannes.
Organized by the concurrent Hong Kong International Film Festival, the winners were chosen from a field of 65 nominees drawn from 700 entries made in countries from Iran to Indonesia and Japan to Singapore.
" 'The Host' is showing in China right now, and this award will help it get more of an audience," producer Choi Yong Bae said in accepting the best film award. Director Bong Joon-Ho's film has topped China's boxoffice for the past two weekends and earned about $90 million worldwide.
Mainland Chinese helmer Jia Zhangke thanked his mother in accepting the best director award for Still Life. I love you, mom, said Jia, whose film about changes brought on by China's Three Gorges Dam project won the Golden Lion last year at Venice.
In presenting the best film award, Raphael Hui, Hong Kong's chief secretary for administration said: "For Asian cinema, the past year has been an embarrassment -- an embarrassment of riches. Asian films are now a major force of filmmaking in the world."
Winners were chosen by a jury of 17 film professionals that included the directors or programrs of the Berlin, Cannes, Hong Kong, Pusan, Tokyo and Venice film festivals; the managing director of CAA in China; critics from India, Thailand and the U.S.; a producer from Taiwan; and officials from government film agencies in South Korea and China.
- 3/21/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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