‘The Assassin’ Dominates 10th Asian Film Awards With Nine Nominations Including 'Best Film' And 'Best Director'
Martial arts film "The Assassin" is leading this year's Asian Film Awards after receiving a total of nine nominations for the annual event. Director Hou Hsiao-Hsien's film has been nominated for Best Film, Best Director, Best Cinematography and Best Actress for Taiwanese actress Shu Qi for her role as an eponymous assassin.
"The Assassin" also received nods for Best Original Music, Best Costume Design, Best Production Design, Best Sound and Best Supporting Actress for Zhou Yun for her role as Lady Tian, the wife of a military governor.
Screen Daily reported that the film also bagged the Best Director award at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival. Aside from that, "The Assassin" was also shortlisted as the Taiwanese entry for Best Foreign Language Film at the 88th Academy Awards. The film, however, failed to be included in the final list of nominees.
The film is a co-production by Taiwan, China and Hong Kong. "The Assassin" premiered in theaters in China and Hong Kong on Aug. 27 before it was released in Taiwan a day later.
"The Assassin" will compete with "Mountains May Depart," "Bajirao Mastani," "Three Stories of Love," "Mr. Six" and "Veteran" for the Best Film award.
Indian film "Bajirao Mastani" and Hong Kong thriller film "Port of Call" received five nods respectively. "Port of Call" was also a favorite at the Hong Kong Film Awards, having received 13 nominations, Korea Herald noted Thursday.
The Asian Film Awards will celebrate its 10th anniversary this year. According to the Asian Film Awards Academy, 1,600 entries from 32 countries were submitted for the annual event. These figures were trimmed down to 36 films coming from nine Asian countries.
A jury member said he is expecting great performances from all the entries.
Jury member Sean Lau Ching Wan said he will be looking at the actors' performances and watch who "brings the characters to life" to determine which nominee deserves to win per category.
