Held in conjunction with the Hong Kong International Film Festival and Hong Kong Filmart, the Asian Film Awards celebrated their second edition by handing three top honors to Lee Chang-dong's Secret Sunshine, according to Variety. The film won awards for Best Asian Film, Best Director, and Best Actress (Jeon Do-yeon). Secret Sunshine began receiving accolades at Cannes last year and the positive press has never let up as it's played the festival circuit worldwide. Sad to say, it has yet to be acquired for US distribution, so if you want to see this highly-acclaimed family drama, you'll have to pony up for an import DVD from overseas. Best Actor prize went to the great Tony Leung Chiu-wai for Ang Lee's Lust, Caution. Our own Jeffrey M. Anderson didn't like the film overall, but was mighty impressed by Leung's performance: "In one great sequence, he reacts to a bit of news only with his eyes and then his feet, and it's an astonishing bit of acting." Joan Chen (Twin Peaks, Saving Face) won as Best Supporting Actress for Mainland Chinese arthouse flick The Sun Also Rises. Sun Honglei received Best Supporting Actor award for his work in Mongol, a movie that Picturehouse will open in limited release on June 6.
Other films that were awarded include Mad Detective (Screenwriter), Help Me Eros (Cinematography), Eye in the Sky (Editor), and The Assembly (Visual Effects). India's Vishal Dadlani and Shekhar Ravjiani shared the Best Composer award. The awards are decided upon by an 18-member jury composed of critics, festival programmers, and other film experts.
