The 3rd Asian World Film Festival came to a close with George Takei’s Allegiance: The Broadway Musical on the Big Screen. A Taxi Driver was the top film of the 2017 Festival, winning the award for Best Picture, along with a Special Mention to actress Kang-ho Song for her performance in the film. The film was also awarded Dr. Kim’s ‘He Can Do She Can Do’ Award.
The AWFF Jury Awards
Snow Leopard Best Picture: A Taxi Driver (Dir: Jang Joon, Republic of Korea)
Snow Leopard Best Actor: Actor and director, Aktan Arym Kubat in Centaur, (Kyrgyzstan)
Snow Leopard Best Actress: Anoma Janadari in Burning Birds (Dir: Sanjeewa Pushpaumara, Sri Lanka). A Special Mention was given to Kang-ho Song in A Taxi Driver.
Snow Leopard Special Jury Award: Mad World (Dir: Wong Chun, Hong Kong).
Snow Leopard Audience Award was given to Ayla: The Daughter of War (Dir: Can Ulkay, Turkey).
Snow Leopard Best New Director Award was awarded to two winners: Scary Mother Dir: Ana Urushadze (Georgia); and How Victor “The Garlic” Took Alexey “The Stud” To The Nursing Home Dir: Alexander Hant (Russia).
Other awards
Dr. Kim’s ‘He Can Do She Can Do’ Award, and cash prize of $10,000 was awarded to A Taxi Driver (Dir: Jang Hoon,Republic of Korea).
The Snow Leopard Rising Star Award was presented to Sreymoch Sareum for her role in First They Killed My Father. The film’s director, producer and co-screenwriter Angelina Jolie and co-screenwriter and executive producer, Loung Ong, accepted the award on Sreymoch’s behalf at a special screening of the film .
The Spirit Award for Dedication and Passion was given to Vietnamese actress Ha Phuong; and the Murray Weissman Poster Art Award was given to Little Gandhi (Dir: Sam Kadi, Syria; designer: Brian A. Metcalf). Little Gandhi is Syria’s 2017 Foreign Language Film Oscar contender.
George Takei was honored with the Snow Leopard Lifetime Achievement Award for his activism work within the LBGTQ community.