Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s ‘Evil Does Not Exist’ wins best film at Asian Film Awards

Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Evil Does Not Exist was named best film at the Asian Film Awards in Hong Kong on Sunday evening (March 10).

The Japanese drama, which premiered in competition at Venice where it won five awards including the grand jury prize, also picked up best original music for composer Eiko Ishibashi.

Scroll down for full list of winners

While Hamaguchi was not at the ceremony, held in the Grand Theatre of the Xiqu Centre in Hong Kong’s West Kowloon Cultural District, the top prize was accepted in-person by Ishibashi, cinematographer Yoshio Kitagawa and co-editor Azusa Yamzaki – presented by Japanese director and this year’s AFAs jury president Kiyoshi Kurosawa.

There was an element of déjà vu as last year saw Hamaguchi’s Drive My Car win best film and Ishibashi win best original music for her work on the feature.

It was also a repeat win for Hirokazu Kore-eda, who tonight won best director for Monster after winning the same award last year for Broker. The famously secretive filmmaker took to the stage to accept the award, promising that “next year, there will be a new piece of work” and that he hoped to return.

It marked a strong night for Japan, which led the pack with six prizes. These also included Koji Yakusho winning best actor for his performance in Wim Wenders’ Perfect Days, having previously won best actor at Cannes where the film premiered last year. Yakusho was not in attendance.

Japan’s trophy haul was rounded out by Godzilla Minus One winning two awards for visual effects and sound.

Another double winner was South Korea’s historical drama 12.12: The Day – the highest-grossing title at the South Korea box office in 2023 – which saw Park Hoon win best supporting actor and Kim Sang-Bum win best editing.

Two awards were also won for wilderness drama Snow Leopard by the late Tibetan director Pema Tseden, who died in May last year aged 53. It picked up best cinematography, collected by Matthias Delvaux, and best screenplay, written by Tseden. The late filmmaker’s son accepted the latter award and said: “My father once said to me that in creation the most relaxing and happy moment is when he creates with language so thank you for this honour. I’m sure my father in heaven will appreciate it.”

Big-budget Hong Kong-China feature The Goldfinger also secured a brace of awards, winning best costume design for the work of Man Lim Chung and best production design for Eric Lam.

From Hong Kong, Nick Cheuk picked up best new director for Time Still Turns The Pages while Rachel Leung received loud cheers and a huge round of applause when announced as best supporting actress, for her performance in Lawrence Kan’s drama In Broad Daylight. Leung was so excited by the win that she ran on to the stage to hug actress Angela Yuen, who was presenting the trophy, and knocked over the microphone stand in the process.

Top honours

As previously announced, honorary prizes celebrating excellence in Asian cinema were presented to Korean actress Lee Young-ae, known for her roles in Park Chan-wook’s Joint Security Area and Lady Vengeance, and Japanese actor Ryohei Suzuki, known for Daishi Matsunaga’s LGBTQ+ romance drama Egoist and Netflix’s upcoming manga adaptation City Hunter.

Chinese actress Zhao Liying, best known for her role in Zhang Yimou’s recent box office hit Article 20, received the AFA next generation honour while this year’s rising star award was presented to Thai actor and model Metawin Opas-iamkajorn, known widely as Win, marking the first time the award has been handed to talent from Thailand.

Receiving two honours including a lifetime achievement award was Chinese director Zhang Yimou, the acclaimed filmmaker of House Of Flying Daggers and more recent box office smash Full River Red, for which he also received AFAs Highest-Grossing Asian Film Award. Ahead of presenting the lifetime award, it was said that Zhang had already received seven such honours to date, most recently at Tokyo International Film Festival in October.

Accepting the lifetime award, Yimou said: “There are so many outstanding Asian filmmakers gathered here. They are also on the same path as me, pursuing their dreams of film… Asian films nowadays play a very important role, telling Asian stories to the whole world. I hope this award is not the end and instead a new beginning for me. Together, let’s pursue our dreams so we can keep telling Asian stories to the whole world.”

The 17^th edition of the annual awards included a raft of star names, both among the nominees and presenters, including actor Tony Leung Chiu Wai, his co-star in The Goldfinger Charlene Choi and Chinese superstar and producer Fan Bingbing.

The awards took place on the eve of Hong Kong Filmart, a leading film and TV market in Asia, which runs March 11-14. They form part of Hong Kong Entertainment Expo, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, and comprises several further events including the Hong Kong International Film Festival (HKIFF, March 28-April 8), HKIFF Industry Project Market (March 11-13), Asia Video Summit (March 13-14) and Hong Kong Film Awards (April 14).

Asian Film Awards 2024 winners

Best film: Evil Does Not Exist (Japan)

Best director: Hirokazu Kore-eda, Monster (Japan)

Best actor: Koji Yakusho, Perfect Days (Japan)

Best actress: Jiang Qinqin, Dwelling By The West Lake (China)

Best supporting actor: Park Hoon, 12.12: The Day (S Kor)

Best supporting actress: Rachel Leung, In Broad Daylight (HK)

Best new director: Nick Cheuk, Time Still Turns The Pages (HK)

Best newcomer: Tergel Bold-Erdene, City Of Wind (Mong-Fr-Port-Neth-Qat-Ger)

Best screenplay: Pema Tseden, Snow Leopard (China)

Best editing: Kim Sang-Bum, 12.12: The Day (S Kor)

Best cinematography: Matthias Delvaux, Snow Leopard (China)

Best original music: Eiko Ishibashi, Evil Does Not Exist (Japan)

Best costume design: Man Lim Chung, The Goldfinger (HK-China)

Best production design: Eric Lam, The Goldfinger (HK-China)

Best visual effects: Takashi Yamazaki, Kiyoko Shibuya, Masaki Takahashi, Tatsuji Nojima, Godzilla Minus One (Japan)

Best sound: Natsuko Inoue, Godzilla Minus One (Japan)

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