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Tang Wei (left) and Park Hae-il in a still from Decision to Leave.

Lifestyle Entertainment

Asian Film Awards 2023 nominations: Decision to Leave, Drive My Car lead race; Hong Kong cinema represented by five movies

Korean director Park Chan-wook’s Decision to Leave receives 10 nominations for the awards, which cover 19 months of cinema after 2022 ceremony was postponed
Five Hong Kong films received nominations, with Tony Leung and Silvia Chang nominated for best actor and best actress

Asian cinema

Edmund Lee

Published: 11:45am, 9 Jan 2023

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Korean auteur Park Chan-wook’s stylish romantic mystery Decision to Leave leads the field with 10 nominations at the 16th Asian Film Awards, the organisers announced on Friday.

With the 2022 awards ceremony having been postponed because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the current edition covers 19 months of film releases, and has thrown up some unexpected contests between top contenders.

The 10 nominations for Park’s film, best director winner at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival, are nearly matched by the eight nominations garnered by Drive My Car, Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Oscar-winning adaptation of a Haruki Murakami short story, the best screenplay winner at Cannes in 2021.

Rounding out the best picture race are Kazakhstan’s Poet, Indian historical epic Ponniyin Selvan: Part I, and Filipino director Lav Diaz’s When the Waves Are Gone.

Hidetoshi Nishijima (left) and Toko Miura in a still from Drive My Car. Photo: Bitters End

Hong Kong cinema is represented by five films; notably, there is a best actor nomination for Tony Leung Chiu-wai for his role as an infamous corrupt policeman in Where the Wind Blows, and a best actress nod for Sylvia Chang Ai-chia for her portrayal of a grieving widow in A Light Never Goes Out.

The 2023 winners will be decided by a jury headed by China’s Zhang Yimou, who was named best director for One Second at the awards’ last edition in 2021. They will be announced on March 12 at a ceremony at the Hong Kong Jockey Club Auditorium in the Hong Kong Palace Museum, West Kowloon.

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan as Nandini in a still from Ponniyin Selvan: Part I.

The full list of nominations is as follows:

Best film

Decision to Leave (South Korea), Drive My Car (Japan), Poet (Kazakhstan), Ponniyin Selvan: Part I (India), When the Waves Are Gone (The Philippines, France, Portugal, Denmark)

(From left) Gang Dong-won, IU and Song Kang-ho in a still from Broker.

Best director

Hirokazu Koreeda (Broker), Park Chan-wook (Decision to Leave), Ryusuke Hamaguchi (Drive My Car), Darezhan Omirbayev (Poet), Davy Chou (Return to Seoul)

Best actor

Park Hae-il (Decision to Leave), Hidetoshi Nishijima (Drive My Car), Ryohei Suzuki (Egoist), Zhang Yi (Home Coming), Mohsen Tanabandeh (World War III), Tony Leung Chiu-wai (Where the Wind Blows)

Tony Leung Chiu-wai in a still from Where the Wind Blows.

Best actress

Sylvia Chang (A Light Never Goes Out), Karena Lam (American Girl), Happy Salma (Before, Now & Then), Tang Wei (Decision to Leave), Chieko Baisho (Plan 75)

Best supporting actor

Masaki Okada (Drive My Car), Hio Miyazawa (Egoist), Im Si-wan (Emergency Declaration), Oh Kwang-rok (Return to Seoul), Michael Hui Koon-man (Where the Wind Blows)

Best supporting actress

Sakura Ando (A Man), Laura Basuki (Before, Now & Then), Kim So-jin (Emergency Declaration), Yin Tao (Home Coming), Yumi Kawai (Plan 75)

Happy Salma (front) and Laura Basuki in a still from Before, Now & Then. Photo: Fourcolours Films

Best new director

Makbul Mubarak (Autobiography), Saim Sadiq (Joyland), Jigme Trinley (One and Four), Chie Hayakawa (Plan 75), Kim Se-in (The Apartment with Two Women)

Best newcomer

Louise Wong (Anita), Lee Ji-eun (Broker), Yang Enyou (Lighting Up the Stars), Park Ji-min (Return to Seoul), Mak Pui Tung (The Sparring Partner)

Best screenplay

Autobiography, Decision to Leave, Drive My Car, Lighting Up the Stars, When the Waves Are Gone

Best editing

Decision to Leave, Drive My Car, Lighting Up the Stars, Ponniyin Selvan: Part I, Return to Seoul

Best cinematography

Before, Now & Then; Decision to Leave; One and Four; Plan 75; Ponniyin Selvan: Part I

Best original music

Decision to Leave, Drive My Car, Ponniyin Selvan: Part I, Return to Seoul, The Four Walls

Park Ji-min in a still from Return to Seoul. Photo: MUBI

Best costume design

Alienoid; Anita; Before, Now & Then; Egoist; Ponniyin Selvan: Part I

Best production design

Before, Now & Then; Decision to Leave; Home Coming; Ponniyin Selvan: Part I; Where the Wind Blows

Best visual effects

Alienoid, Moon Man, RRR, Shin Ultraman, Warriors of Future

N.T. Rama Rao Jnr in a still from RRR. Photo: CVV Entertainment

Best sound

Anita, Decision to Leave, Drive My Car, Return to Seoul, RRR

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