China’s film entries bagged 10 out of 16 awards on Wednesday at the 9th Asian Film Awards, with director Lou Ye’s “Blind Massage” emerging as the top winner after grabbing the Best Film tilt.
“Blind Massage” centers on the lives and romantic pursuits of a clique of blind massage therapists. The semi-documentary-styled film also took the Best Cinematographer award for Zeng Jian.
In November, the Lou Ye film also won the same titles during the Golden Horse Awards in Taiwan.
Meanwhile, critically acclaimed Ann Hui won Best Director for the epic “The Golden Era.”
The film featuring the lives of China’s most important writers also bagged the Best Supporting Actor for Wang Zhiwen. Wang portrayed the role of Lu Xun.
Jiang Wen’s “Gone with the Bullets” won the most awards, bagging three titles in the technical categories such as Best Visual Effects, Best Production Designer and Best Costume Designer.
The controversial movie was set in 1920s Shanghai, and follows the story of a beauty-pageant winner.
The Chinese thriller film “Black Coal, Thin Ice” won Liao Fan a Best Actor Award for his laudable performance as a policeman turned alcoholic security guard. The movie’s director, Diao Yinan, also won the Best Screen.
“Black Coal, Thin Ice” earlier won the Golden Bear award during the 64th Berlin International Film Festival.
Zhang Huiwen of the Zhang Yimou-directed "Coming Hone” was awarded as the Best Newcomer.
Other winners include South Korea’s Bae Doo-na (Best Actress for “A Girl at My Door”), Japan’s Ikewaki Chizuru (Best Supporting Actress for “The Light Shines Only There”), India’s Mikey McCleary (Best Composer for “Margarita, with a Straw”) and Indonesia's Gareth Evans (Best Editor for “The Raid 2: Berandal”).
Im Kwon-taek, dubbed as the “Godfather of Korean Cinema,” received the Lifetime Achievement Award for his prolific contribution to the film industry. His still active career has already spanned for over half a century.
Another special award was handed to the all-around performer, Nakatani Miki. The popular Japanese artist, who has already released seven albums, starred in 40 TV series and in over 30 movies, and published nine books, was given the Excellence in Asian Cinema recognition.
For this year’s edition, the Asian Film Awards, which was inaugurated in 2007, received more than a thousand eligible films from over 34 countries in the region.