Legendary actress Josephine Siao honoured for her contribution to Asian cinema
South Korean monster movie The Host emerged as the biggest winner in last night's inaugural Asian Film Awards, snapping up four titles out of 10.
Directed by Bong Joon-ho, it won Best Film, Best Cinematographer and Best Visual Effects as well as Best Actor for its leading star, Song Kang-ho.
The spoils for the night were otherwise evenly shared, with the six remaining awards going to representatives from six regions.
Though host of the awards, Hong Kong emerged victorious only in the Best Production Design category, with Tim Yip Kam-tim netting the title for The Banquet.
Among the many Hong Kong filmmakers disappointed on the night were Johnnie To Kei-fung, who lost out to Jia Zhangke , the mainland director of Still Life. Andy Lau Tak-wah was another casualty in the Best Actor category, as was Patrick Tam Ka-ming (who left empty-handed despite nominations for Best Production Design and Best Editor) as well as Peter Kam Pui-tat, who lost to Indonesia's Rahayu Supanggah in the Best Composer award.
There were big surprises in many categories: Iran's Mani Haghighi won Best Screenwriter for his film Men At Work despite competition from the team behind the mainland hit Crazy Stone and last summer's Japanese hit movie Death Note: The Last Name. Thailand's Lee Chatametikool saw off candidates from two Hong Kong films (Dog Bite Dog and After This Our Exile) as well as The Host to win the Best Editor title.