Chinese director Wang Liren's feature debut Weed is the frontrunner at the 3rd Asian Festival of 1st Films (AFFF) with five nominations, including best film and best director.

The picture which premiered at Rotterdam this year is about a day-wage worker in Beijing who falls for a prostitute which leads to tragic consequences. Wang is also nominated at AFFF for best producer and best screenplay while Mai Zi is up for best actor.

Two Taiwanese films and one from India received three nods each. Pan Zhi Yuan's The Touch Of Fate is competing for best film, director and actor for Wu Zhong Tian; Keeping Watch is vying for best screenplay, editor and actress for Haden Kuo, while Rajnesh Domalpalli's Vanaja has nods for best director, producer and actress for Mamatha Bhukya.

Also competing in the best film category are Beautiful from Australia and Dharm from India .

The selection committee, which included UK producer-director Carol Haslam, Hong Kong director Gordon Chan, Taiwanese producer Peggy Chiao, AFFF festival director Sanjoy K Roy and programmer Uma Da Cunha, picked 21 films for nine categories.

A total of 32 films (including eight out-of-competition) will be played at the festival from Nov 27-Dec 4. AFFF is organised by Roy 's Teamwork Productions as one of the nine events under the umbrella of Media Development Authority of Singapore's media fiesta Asia Media Festival.

Full nominations list:

BEST FILM

Beautiful (Australia) Dir Shaun Newcombe

Dharm (India) Dir Bhavna Talwar

The Touch Of Fate (Taiwan) Dir Pan Zhi Yuan

Weed (China) Dir Wang Liren

BEST PRODUCER

Bhavna Talwar - Dharm (India)

Jo Dyer & Lesley Dyer - Lucky Miles (Australia)

Latha R Domalpalli - Vanaja (India)

Wang Liren - Weed (China)

BEST DIRECTOR

Kabir Khan - Kabul Express (India)

Pan Zhi Yuan - The Touch of Fate (Taiwan)

Rajesh Domalpalli - Vanaja (India)

Wang Liren - Weed (China)

BEST SCREENPLAY

Kate Gorman - 5 Moments of Infidelity (Australia)

Keeping Watch - Fen Fen Cheng (Taiwan)

Stephane Gauger - Owl & the Sparrow (USA)

Wang Liren - Weed (China)

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHER

Hu Linping - Family on the Sky Lake (China)

Adili Chen - Keeping Watch (Taiwan)

Yu Guangyi - The Last Lumberjacks (China)

Hung Tien Ren - The Touch of Fate (Taiwan)

BEST MALE ACTOR

Batzul Khayankhyarvaa - Khadak (Germany, Belgium, Netherlands)

Wu Zhong Tian - The Touch of Fate (Taiwan)

Mai Zi - Weed (China)

BEST FEMALE ACTOR

Julia Foenander - Beautiful (Australia)

Haden Kuo - Keeping Watch (Taiwan)

Pham Thi Han - Owl & the Sparrow (USA)

Mamatha Bhukya - Vanaja (USA)

BEST DOCUMENTARY

Feet Unbound (Australia)

Lockout (Australia)

The Boy Who Died Of Fear (Israel)

The Last Lumberjacks (China)

USS Cooper - Return to Ormoc Bay (Philippines)

BEST DIRECTOR OF DOCUMENTARY

Hu Linping - Family on the Sky Lake (China)

Sheetal S Agarwal - Gearing Up - The Fire Within (Hong Kong)

Nadine Naous & Lena Rouxel- My Palestine (Lebanon, France)

Maya Newell Maya Newell - Richard (Australia)

Mridul Chowdhary & Sujan Mahmud - The Migrant (Bangladesh)

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