‘A Sad and Beautiful World’, ‘The Left-Handed Girl’, Vishal Jethwa and Tandin Bida are among the competition winners of the 11th Asian World Film Festival. The winners were announced at the festival’s closing ceremony on Nov. 20 in Culver City.
The Lebanese feature film “A Sad and Beautiful World” won the festival’s top prize, the Snow Leopard Award for Best Film. Directed by Cyril Aris, the film tells the story of two childhood lovers who reunite as adults against the backdrop of Beirut’s political turmoil.
“The Left-Handed Girl” won the Snow Leopard Audience Award. A Taiwanese feature film directed by Tso Shi-ching, the film centers on a single mother and her two daughters who open a night market stall in Taipei. The film, co-written, produced and edited by Academy Award winner Sean Baker, will be released on Netflix on November 28th.
Jeswa won the Snow Leopard Award for Best Actor for his role in the Indian feature film Homebound, while Tandin Bida won the Snow Leopard Award for Best Actress for her role in the Bhutanese feature film I The Song.
The festival spanned 10 days in Culver City and screened 46 features and 27 shorts from more than 30 Asian countries. Chinese film director Bing Ying served as the head of the festival’s feature film jury, and South Korean film director and actress Cho Ji-sung served as the head of the short film jury.
Georges N. Chamshoum, Executive Director of AWFF, said: “This year, in our 11th year, we have had the good fortune to present films of extraordinary strength, clarity and finesse. We are more focused than ever on filmmaking and the Asian film experience, and we are honored to win a festival that highlights Asia’s extraordinary contribution to world cinema.”
See the complete list of this year’s AWFF winners below.
Best Picture Snow Leopard – “A Sad and Beautiful World” (Lebanon), Cyril Aris, Director Snow Leopard Best Actor – Vishal Jeswa, “Homebound” (India) Snow Leopard Best Actress – Tandin Bida, “I, the Song” (Bhutan) Snow Leopard Special Jury Award – “Palestine 36” (Palestine), Annemarie Jacir, Snow Leopard Best Director – Anselm Cheung, The Last Dance (Hong Kong) Snow Leopard Audience Award – The Left-Handed Girl (Taiwan), Shi Ching Tso, director Asian Vision Award – Summer’s End (Russia/Yakutia), Maxim Albugaev, Vladimir Munkuev Best Short Film – Don’t Be Late, Myra (Pakistan), directed by Afia Serena Nathaniel, short film runner-up – “Sheep” (Iran), directed by Hadi Babaifar, short film runner-up – “Before the Winter” (USA/China), directed by Juan Zuloaga Esrite, short film special award – “Zahra” (Jordan), directed by Hadi Shatat, Snow Leopard Lifetime Achievement Award – Daniel Lee (Yang Kong Li), action/martial arts writer and director Snow Leopard Award (male) – Byung-hun Lee, actor, singer Snow Leopard Award (Female) – Lucy Liu, American actress Snow Leopard Rising Star – Nina Yeh, Taiwanese actress Bruce Lee Award – Michael Jai White, American actor and martial artist
