NEWS: Asian Film Awards 2019 Announces List of Nominations3 min read
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Lee Chang-dong’s smoldering drama Burning picked up the largest number of nominations for the 2019 edition of the Asian Film Awards. Lee’s film is a slow-burning drama that is loosely adapted from the short story Barn Burning by Haruki Murakami. The Korean adaptation of a Japanese short story was nominated in eight categories, including best film.
Other best film nominees were Pema Tseden’s Jinpa, Wen Muye’s Dying to Survive, Rajkumar Hirani’s Sanju, and Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Shoplifters. Shoplifters won the Palme d’Or in Cannes, where both films premiered. It also won the top film prize at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards in November.
The nominations were announced in Hong Kong on Friday afternoon, and the prize ceremony will be held in Hong Kong on Sunday, 17 March.
Shoplifters, Sanju and Zhang Yimou’s Shadow ranked narrowly behind Burning with six nominations each. Hong Kong crime thriller Project Gutenburg earned five nominations, while Jinpa and Dying to Survive both received four nominations. While Burning and Shoplifters are both among the front-runners, as they have been at festivals and award events through the year, the AFA nominations rank them differently.
At the Golden Horse awards in Taiwan, Shadow picked up the most nominations and went home the numerical winner with four prizes, including one for Zhang as best director. The AFAs omit it from all performance categories, but put it in six technical awards races. It will compete against Operation Red Sea, the biggest Asian film of last year at the box office, which similarly, only received nominations in technical categories.
Amongst other nominations include A Land Imagined by Yeo Siew Hua and One Cut of the Dead by Shinichiro Ueda for best new director. The films won Best Film and Audience Choice Awards respectively at the 29th Singapore International Film Festival.
Best Film
Burning (South Korea)
Dying to Survive (China)
Jinpa (China)
Sanju (India)
Shoplifters (Japan)
Best Director
Lee Chang-dong (Burning)
Pema Tseden (Jinpa)
Rajkumar Hirani (Sanju)
Hirokazu Koreeda (Shoplifters)
Fruit Chan (Three Husbands)
Best New Director
Yeo Siew Hua (A Land Imagined)
Rima Das (Bulbul Can Sing)
Phuttiphong Aroonpheng (Manta Ray)
Shinichiro Ueda (One Cut of the Dead)
Oliver Chan Siu-kuen (Still Human)
Bai Xue (The Crossing)
Best Actor
Yoo Ah-in (Burning)
Xu Zheng (Dying to Survive)
Aaron Kwok (Project Gutenberg)
Ranbir Kapoor (Sanju)
Koji Yakusho (The Blood of Wolves)
Best Actress
Zhao Tao (Ash Is Purest White)
Samal Yeslyamova (Ayka)
Han Ji-min (Miss Baek)
Sakura Ando (Shoplifters)
Chloe Maayan (Three Husbands)
Best Supporting Actor
Zhang Yu (Dying to Survive)
Kwon Hae-hyo (Hotel by the River)
Shinya Tsukamoto (Killing)
Vicky Kaushal (Sanju)
River Huang (Tracey)
Best Supporting Actress
Jin Seo-yeon (Believer)
Ding Ning (Cities of Last Things)
Xu Qing (Hidden Man)
Mayu Matsuoka (Shoplifters)
Kara Wai (Tracey)
Best Newcomer
Erika Karata (Asako I & II)
Jun Jong-seo (Burning)
Xie Zhangying (Cities of Last Things)
Johnny Huang (Operation Red Sea)
Huang Yao (The Crossing)
Chan Charm-man (Three Husbands)
Best Screenplay
Ash Is Purest White
Burning
Dying to Survive
Project Gutenberg
Sanju
Best cinematography
Burning
Jinpa
Manta Ray
Shadow
Tumbbad
See the full list of nominations here >>
Image credit: Variety
