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‘Wife of a Spy’ Wins Top Prize at Asian Film Awards
Kurosawa Kiyoshi’s period action drama “Wife of a Spy” was the biggest winner at the 15th edition of the Asian Film Awards. It collected three major prizes including the best film award.
Asian Film Awards
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The 18 prizes were handed out Friday evening at a hybrid ceremony with the in-person component held at Busan’s Paradise Hotel. Organizers said that 80 nominees attended either in person or online. Among those in Busan to tread the AFA red carpet were Korean stars and prize-winners Lee Byung-hun and Yoo Ah-in.
Directors Lee Chang-dong and Hamaguchi Ryusuke were also in attendance, along with Korean stars Jun Jong-seo, Park Jeong-min, Jang Yoon-ju, Kim Hyun-bin and Gong Seung-yeon.
“Wife of a Spy” was conceived as a TV film. A theatrical version debuted last year at the Venice Film festival and there won the Silver Lion. It enjoyed a high-profile festival career with subsequent stops at San Sebastian, El Gouna and Hainan, and a theatrical career in Japan that kicked off in October 2020.
Asian Film Awards
While “Wife” picked up the best actress prize for Aoi Yu and best costume design (Koketsu Haruki), Kurosawa missed out on the directing prize. That went instead to Chinese veteran Zhang Yimou for his tribute to cinema “One Second.” The film earned Liu Haocun the best newcomer award, while another Zhang-directed pic “Cliff Walkers” picked up the best editing award. Neither Kurosawa or Zhang were present in Busan.
Having initially been held in Hong Kong in March, the Asian Film Awards are now jointly organized by the Hong Kong, Busan and Tokyo festival and take place in the autumn.
Asian Film Awards 2021 Winners
Best Film: “Wife of a Spy” dir: Kurosawa Kiyoshi
Best director: Zhang Yimou, for “One Second”
Best new director: Hong Eui-jeong for “Voice of Silence”
Best actor: Yoo Ah-in in “Voice of Silence”
Best actress: Aoi Yu in “Wife of a Spy”
Best supporting actor: Kim Hyun-bin for “The Silent Forest”
Best supporting actress: Makita Aju for “True Mothers”
Best screenplay: Chaitanya Tamhane for “The Disciple”
Best newcomer: Liu Haocun in “One Second”
Best editing: Li Yongyi for “Cliff Walkers”
Best visual effects: Tim Crosbie, Joy Wu for “The Eight Hundred”
Best cinematography: Masoud Amini Tirani for “The Wasteland”
Best costume design: Koketsu Haruki for “Wife of a Spy”
Best production design: Kenneth Mak for”Limbo”
Best original music: Day Tai for “The Way We Keep Dancing”
Best sound: Nopawat Likitwong for “Limbo”
Excellence in Asian cinema: Lee Byung Hun
Highest grossing Asian film of 2020: “Demon Slayer: The Movie – Mugen Train”.
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