Asian World Film Festival Names Winners With Malaysia’s ‘Abang Adik’ Taking Best Picture

The Asian World Film Festival announced its winners Nov. 21 at an awards ceremony at the Culver Theater hosted by Kyrgyz director and actress Elnura Osmanalieva and TV host, filmmaker and actor Mico Saad.

Crime drama “Abang Adik” (Malaysia), directed by Jin Ong, took home the Snow Leopard Award for best film, while the film’s star Wu Kang-ren won the Snow Leopard best actor trophy. Best actress went to Diamond Bou Abboud for the social dramedy “Arze” (Lebanon), directed by Mira Shaib.

The Special Jury Prize went to family drama “In the Arms of the Tree” (Iran) directed by Babak Khajeh Pasha. The Snow Leopard Panavision Award for cinematography was awarded to cinematographer Zhanrbek Yeleubek for Kazakhstan coming-of-age drama “Bauryna Salu.” The award comes with a $45,000 Panavision Camera Package Grant. “The Glassworker,” Pakistan’s first hand-drawn animated film and directed by Usman Riaz, won the Audience Award.

Writer, director and producer Sergei Bodrov (“Mongol,” “Prisoner of the Mountains”) received the AWFF Lifetime Achievement Award, presented by Kazakh actress Ayanat Ksenbai (“About Mannequin”).

Other luminaries at AWFF include Hong Kong filmmaker Peter Ho-Sun Chan (“Warlords,” “Comrades: Almost a Love Story,” “Leap”),who was presented with the Outstanding Cinematic Achievement Award by producer Andre Morgan (“The Cannonball Run,” “The Warlords”). Filipino actress Kathryn Bernardo (“The Hows of Us,” “Hello, Love, Goodbye”) was presented with the Rising Star Award, presented by Vietnamese American actress Kieu Chinh (“The Joy Luck Club”) (pictured above).

The Bruce Lee Award, in partnership with the Bruce Lee Foundation, was presented to martial artist and actor Mark Dacascos (“John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum”) by Lee’s daughter Shannon Lee, CEO of the Bruce Lee Foundation.

The AWFF screened more than 60 films, including 24 features in the race for the international Oscar, from Nov. 13 – 21.