#29. Festival : 'The Good' leads Asian awards race

Wed., Jan. 21, 2009, 3:31am PT
Variety.com
MARCUS LIM

'The Good' leads Asian awards race
Korean Western takes eight nominations

HONG KONG — Kim Jee-woon’s Korean Western "The Good, the Bad, the Weird" leads the list of nominations for this year's Asian Film Awards.

Film, about a chase for treasure through the wilderness of Manchuria, collected eight noms, including feature, director and cinematography, as well as supporting actor nods for both Jung Woo-sung and Lee Byung-hun.

Other best film contenders include Chen Kaige's "Forever Enthralled," Hayao Miyazaki's "Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea," Riri Riza's "The Rainbow Troops, John Woo’s "Red Cliff" and Kiyoshi Kurusawa’s "Tokyo Sonata."

The kudofest also announced the creation of a best newcomer category to augment the existing acting awards.

The nominations were announced Wednesday by the Hong Kong Intl. Film Festival Society, organizers of the AFA.

In a nod to the award's pan-Asian ambitions, the nominations this year also included a significant Bollywood contingent. Comedian Akshay Kumar and actress Deepika Padukone both received nods for their respective turns in "Singh is Kinng" and "Chandni Chowk to China," while Hindi period epic "Jodhaa Akbar" came up for contention in the production design and composer categories.

Local Hong Kong films, however, were significantly shut out of the major creative categories. With the exception of favorite son John Woo ("Red Cliff") running for the director prize, and Nick Cheung stalking the supporting actor category for his performance in Emperor Motion Pictures' crime thriller "Beast Stalker," no other Hong Konger or Hong Kong film was nominated in the acting, directing or film categories.

The jury that will select the eventual winners is given some star power with former Bond-girl and "Crouching Tiger" alumnus Michelle Yeoh presiding over the panel.

The 13-member jury includes Peggy Chiao, chair of Taiwan's Golden Horse Awards, as well as Kong Rithdee, Thailand correspondent for Variety.

The AFA will be held in Hong Kong, March 23.

Nominations for the 3rd Asian Film Awards

FILM
"Forever Enthralled"
"The Good, the Bad, the Weird"
"Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea"
"The Rainbow Troops"
"Red Cliff"
"Tokyo Sonata"

DIRECTOR
Feng Xiaogang, "If you are the one"
Kim Jee-woon, "The Good, the bad, the Weird"
Koreeda Hirokazu, "Still Walking"
Brillante Mendoza, "Service"
Hayao Miyazaki/Frank Marshall, "Ponyo on the Cliff by the sea"
John Woo, "Red Cliff"

ACTOR
Ge You, "If you are the one"
Ha Jung-woo, "The Chaser"
Akshay Kumar, "Singh is Kinng"
Matsuyama Kenichi, "Detroit Metal City"
Motoki Masahiro, "Departures"
Song Kang-ho, "The Good, the bad, the Weird"

ACTRESS
Fukatsu Eri, "The Magic Hour"
Jiang Wenli, "And the Spring Comes"
Deepika Padukone, "Chandni Chowk to China"
Yoshinaga Sayuri, "Kabei — our Mother"
Zhou Wei, "Painted Skin"
Zhou Xun, "The Equation of Love and Death"

NEWCOMER
Matsuda Shota, "Boys Over Flowers: the Movie"
Sandrine Pinna, "Miao Miao"
So Ji-sub, "Rough cut"
Xu Jian, "CJ7"
Jeeja Yanin, "Chocolate"
Yu Shaoqun, "Forever Enthralled"

SUPPORTING ACTOR
Nick Cheung, "Beast Stalker"
Jung Woo-sung, "The Good, the Bad, the Weird"
Lee Byung-hun, "The Good, the Bad, the Weird"
Tsutsumi Shinichi, "Suspect X"
Wang Xueqi, "Forever Enthralled"

SCREENWRITER
Na Hong-jin, "The Chaser"
Li Qiang, "And the Spring Comes"
Tom Lin/Henry Tsai, "Winds of September"
Kurosawa Kiyoshi/Max Mannix/Tanaka Sachiko, "Tokyo Sonata"
Mitani Koki, "The Magic Hour"

CINEMATOGRAPHER
Ato Shoichi, "Paco and the Magical Book"
Cheng Siu-keung, "Sparrow"
Lee Mo-gae, "The Good, the bad, the Weird"
Jola Dylewska, "Tulpan"
Wang Yu/Nelson Yu, "24 City"

PRODUCTION DESIGNER
Nitin Chandrakant Desai, "Jodhaa Akbar"
Kuwajima Towako, "Paco and the Magical Book"
Daniel Lee Yan-kong, "Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of the Dragon"
Bill Lui, "Painted Skin"
Taneda Yohei, "The Magic Hour"

COMPOSER
Dalpalan/Jang Young-gyu, "The Good, the bad, the Weird"
Hanno Yoshihiro/Lim Giong, "24 City"
Hisaishi Joe, "Ponyo on the Cliff by the sea"
Henry Lai Wan-man, "Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of the Dragon"
A.R. Rahman, "Jodhaa Akbar"

EDITOR
Chan Ki-hop, "Beast Stalker"
William Chang Suk-ping, "Miao Miao"
Darya Danilova, "Native Dancer"
Waluyo Ichwandiardono, "The Rainbow Troops"
Kim Sun-min, "The Chaser"

VISUAL EFFECTS
Craig Hayes, "Red Cliff"
Kim Wook, "The Good, the bad, the Weird"
Yanagawase Masahide, "Paco and the Magical Book"