The Lebanese film A Sad and Beautiful World directed by Cyril Aris has won the Snow Leopard for Best Film, the top jury prize at the 11th annual Asian World Film Festival.
Vishal Jehtwa won the Snow Leopard for Best Actor for his performance in Homebound, and Tandin Bidha won the Snow Leopard for Best Actress for her role in the Bhutanese film I, the Song.
The Snow Leopard Special Jury Award went to Palestine 36 directed by Annemarie Jacir, and the Snow Leopard Jury Discretionary Award for Best Director went to Chan Mou Yin, Anselm for The Last Dance. Left-Handed Girl directed by Shih-Ching Tsou walked away with the Snow Leopard Audience Award.
“In this, our 11th year, we had the good fortune of showing works of unusual strength, clarity and craft,” said Georges N. Chamchoum, AWFF executive director. “We redoubled our focus on filmmaking and the Asian film experience and were rewarded with a festival that underlined Asia’s exceptional contribution to world cinema.”
The event capped 10 days of film screenings representing more than 30 Asian nations and regions, including 23 official Oscar® submissions for Best International Feature Film. Forty-six feature films and 27 shorts were exhibited, including 15 features in competition for the Snow Leopard for Best Film and 14 shorts in the running for Best Short Film.
The complete 11th Annual Asian World Film Festival Awards list is as follows:
Asian World Film Festival Competition Winners
Snow Leopard for Best Film – “A Sad and Beautiful World” (Lebanon), Cyril Aris, director
Snow Leopard for Best Actor – Vishal Jehtwa, “Homebound” (India)
Snow Leopard for Best Actress – Tandin Bidha, “I, the Song” (Bhutan)
Snow Leopard Special Jury Award – “Palestine 36” (Palestine), Annemarie Jacir, director
Snow Leopard Jury Discretionary Award for Best Director – Chan Mou Yin, Anselm, “The Last Dance” (Hong Kong)
Snow Leopard Audience Award – “Left-Handed Girl” (Taiwan), Shih-Ching Tsou, director
Asian Vision Award – “The Summer Will End” (Russia/Yakutia), Maksim Arbugaev and Vladimir Munkuev
Best Short Film – “Don’t Be Late, Myra” (Pakistan), Afia Serena Nathaniel, director
Short Film First Runner-up – “Sheep” (Iran), Hadi Babaeifar, director
Short Film Second Runner-up – “Before the Winter” (U.S./China), Juan Zuloaga Eslait, director
Short Film Special Mention – “Zahra” (Jordan), Hadi Shatat, director
Asian World Film Festival Honorees
Snow Leopard Lifetime Achievement Award – Daniel Lee (Yan-Kong Lee), action and martial arts writer-director
Snow Leopard for Outstanding Cinematic Achievement (Male) – Lee Byung Hun, actor and singer
Snow Leopard for Outstanding Cinematic Achievement (Female) – Lucy Liu, American actress
Snow Leopard Rising Star – Nina Ye, Taiwanese actress
Bruce Lee Award – Michael Jai White, American actor-martial artist
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