The Asian Film Awards is set to honour established filmmakers and champion the next generation of directing talent at its 18th edition.
The 18th Asian Film Awards (AFA) is set to spotlight cinematic excellence in the Asia Pacific region when it takes place next month.
Two blockbuster hits, South Korean supernatural thriller Exhuma and Hong Kong action film Twilight Of The Warriors: Walled In, dominate the nominations, vying for best film among several top accolades.
Esteemed Hong Kong actor, director and action choreographer Sammo Hung will oversee the awards as jury president. He leads a jury of seven members, while more than 250 voters will also consider the selection of 30 nominated films from 25 countries and regions to determine the winners of 16 awards.
The red carpet and gala ceremony will be held at the Xiqu Centre in Hong Kong on March 16, the night before the opening of Hong Kong Filmart, Asia’s largest film market.
Running concurrently from March 14-16 are a series of outreach programmes organised by the Asian Film Awards Academy (AFAA) to enable filmmakers, cast and crew to share their creative journeys, giving local audiences a chance to gain insight from international filmmaking talent.
Among the highlights are the Asian Cinerama, which showcases a selection of nominated films and special screenings, complete with Q&As with filmmakers in attendance. There is also an In Conversation with Filmmakers programme, which will feature nominees from various award categories, including a best supporting actor nominee panel with Tommy Chu (The Last Dance), Philip Ng (Twilight Of The Warriors: Walled In) and Lee Kang-Sheng (Stranger Eyes) as speakers. There will also be a best new director panel featuring Truong Minh Quy (Viet And Nam) and Neo Sora (Happyend).
Aside from the annual awards, the AFAA hosts a variety of engaging events throughout the year to elevate and showcase Hong Kong and Asian cinema on the international stage. In 2024, a total of 78 film screenings and 21 film talks toured Asia and the Middle East, attracting more than 10,000 cinemagoers.
The overseas tours included more than 30 Hong Kong talents such as director Anselm Chan of The Last Dance, director Sasha Chuk of Fly Me To The Moon, and director Herbert Leung and screenwriter Anastasia Tsang of Stuntman. They met audiences in Cambodia, Dubai, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand, while more than 20 Asian talents such as Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda, Japanese screenwriter Yuji Sakamoto and Chinese actress Jiang Qinqin were invited to Hong Kong to meet with local audiences.
AFAA chairman Wilfred Wong says: “2024 proved to be a fruitful year for us. As we embark on 2025 with the 18th Asian Film Awards, we remain committed to our mission of celebrating and promoting Asian cinema through audience education, fostering industry connections and facilitating the exchange of ideas.”
The AFA ceremony is an evening that promises talented filmmakers and the region’s brightest stars. In addition to award nominees and presenters, this year’s AFA ambassador Dean Fujioka, known for Fullmetal Alchemist, will be in attendance along with four stars serving as youth ambassadors. They are Thailand’s Aokbab Chutimon, winner of best actress at the International Emmy Awards for Netflix’s Hunger; Taiwan’s Austin Lin of Marry My Dead Body; Hong Kong’s Lo Chun Yip from Time Still Turns The Pages; and Japan’s Masaki Okada of Drive My Car.
The academy is committed to discovering film talent and introducing them to international audiences. Here we profile the AFA’s five nominees for best new director.
Dong Zijian, director My Friend An Delie
Dong started his acting career aged 17 before graduating from China’s Central Academy of Drama. As an actor, he was active in both film and TV. His signature works include Jia Zhangke’s 2015 Cannes competitor Mountains May Depart and Liu Jie’s De Lan, winner of the Golden Goblet Award for best film at Shanghai.
His directorial feature debut My Friend An Delie had its world premiere at Tokyo International Film Festival, where it won a best artistic contribution award; this was followed by a best Chinese contribution award at China’s Hainan. The film has also received two technical nominations for best editing for William Chang and best cinematography for Lyu Songye at the AFA.
Inspired by the novel by famed Chinese writer Shuang Xuetao, it is about a young man who runs into a longlost childhood friend while returning to his hometown to attend his father’s funeral. Liu Haoran (The Breaking Ice) and Dong, who co-wrote the screenplay, head the cast.
Neo Sora, director Happyend
US-born Sora was raised in New York and Tokyo, and graduated from philosophy and film studies at Wesleyan University in the US. In 2023, his feature-length concert film Ryuichi Sakamoto | Opus chronicled the final performance of his late father Sakamoto, and premiered out of competition at Venice.
Happyend marks his debut fiction feature. The Tokyo-set juvenile delinquent drama, about two teenage friends who play a prank on their school principal, premiered back-to-back at Venice’s Horizons sidebar and Toronto’s Centrepiece section. It has since played several festivals, earning awards at Taipei Golden Horse, Jogja, QCinema and Pingyao. Japanese actor Hayato Kurihara is running for best newcomer at the AFA.
Sora’s short film The Chicken played at Locarno in 2020 while Sugar Glass Bottle won best narrative short at Indie Memphis in 2022. He is also an artist, with artworks shown at the Singapore Biennale and Dojima River Biennale.
Sandhya Suri, director Santosh
British-Indian director Suri’s narrative feature debut Santosh premiered in Un Certain Regard at Cannes last year, and was on the 15-strong shortlist for best international feature film at the Oscars, representing the UK.
The Hindi-language Indian drama, about the journey of a newly widowed housewife who steps into her late husband’s shoes as a police constable, has been invited to more than 30 film festivals, winning accolades at Jerusalem, Camerimage and the British Independent Film Awards. Shahana Goswami, who plays the title character Santosh, is nominated for best actress at the AFA.
Suri, a pure mathematics graduate, went on to study documentary at the UK’s National Film and Television School on a scholarship. Her 2005 feature doc I For India premiered in Sundance’s World Competition section. Her 2018 short The Field was named best international short at Toronto and nominated for a Bafta. She is now adapting a JG Ballard dystopian short story into a feature.
Truong Minh Quy, director Viet And Nam
Shot on 16mm, Vietnamese director Quy’s eight-country international co-production Viet And Nam has been making the rounds at festivals worldwide from Toronto and London to Busan, following its premiere in Un Certain Regard at Cannes in 2024.
However, the film — about a gay miner who is determined to leave his country for Europe by sneaking into a shipping container — has not been cleared for screening in Vietnam. At the AFA, Duy Bao Dinh Dao, who plays the eponymous Viet, is in the running for best newcomer, with France’s Vincent Villa up for best sound.
Born in the Central Highlands of Vietnam, Quy studied at Ho Chi Minh City University of Theatre and Cinema, and at Le Fresnoy, the National Studio for Contemporary Arts in France.
Among his other works are feature documentary The Tree House, which played in Locarno’s Filmmakers of the Present competition in 2019, and French-language short The Men Who Wait, which competed for the Golden Bear for best short film at the Berlinale in 2021.
Yoko Yamanaka, director Desert Of Namibia
Japanese director Yamanaka self-produced and directed Amiko at age 19 after dropping out of Nihon University’s College of Art. The 66-minute coming-of-age film about a high-school outcast took an audience award at Japan’s Pia Film Festival in 2017. Yamanaka became the youngest director ever invited to the Berlinale when Amiko was selected for the Forum sidebar the following year.
Desert Of Namibia, which marks her first full-length feature film, had its world premiere last year in Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes where it won a Fipresci prize. It was also named best film at the World Film Festival of Bangkok and was nominated for best film and best performance for Yuumi Kawai at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards. At the AFA, Kawai is also in the best actress category for her role as a 21-year-old bipolar woman who lacks passion in anything and has no idea what she wants in life.
Yamanaka’s previous works include anthology film 21st Century Girl, and short films Born Pisces and See You On The Other Side.
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