Celebrating its 17th anniversary, the Asian Film Awards (AFA) has unveiled the nominees for its 16 award categories ahead of the ceremony scheduled for March 10, 2024 (Sunday).

The Asian Film Awards Academy (AFAA), established by the Busan, Hong Kong, and Tokyo International Film Festivals, aims to honour excellence in Asian cinema. AFAA plays an important role in promoting and recognizing the Asian film industry through the annual Asian Film Awards and various year-round initiatives.

A total of 35 films across 16 categories have been nominated for AFA17, with the Korean film 12.12: The Day leading as the most nominated film with six nominations. The film is based on the real-life 12.12 Military Insurrection of 1979 in South Korea. The political drama has received nominations for Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Editing, and Best Cinematography.

The film Evil Does Not Exist by Japanese director Hamaguchi Ryusuke, with six nominations, including Best Film and Best Director, is another interesting entry. Actress Jung Yu-mi from Sleep earned a nomination for Best Actress, and director Jason Yu was nominated for Best Screenplay. In the maritime crime action adventure Smugglers, actors Park Jung-min and Go Min-si received nominations for Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, and Best Costume Design.

Other nominated films include Concrete Utopia for Best Production Design, Best Visual Effects, and Best Sound; The Moon for Best Visual Effects, and 1947 Boston for Best Original Music.

Renowned Japanese director Kurosawa Kiyoshi will serve as the Jury President for this year’s Awards, marking the first time a Japanese director has held this position. The 17th Asian Film Awards Ceremony is scheduled to take place at the Xiqu Centre of the West Kowloon Cultural District in Hong Kong on March 10, 2024. The event will be live-streamed on the AFAA’s official YouTube Channel.

Full list of Asian Film Awards 2024 nominees

Best Film

• 12.12: The Day
• Evil Does Not Exist
• Paradise
• Perfect Days
• Snow Leopard

Best Director

• Kim Sung-soo — 12.12: The Day
• Gu Xiaogang — Dwelling by the West Lake
• Hamaguchi Ryusuke — Evil Does Not Exist
• Kore-eda Hirokazu — Monster
• Prasanna Vithanage — Paradise

Best Actor

• Hwang Jung-min — 12.12: The Day
• Wu Kang-Ren — Abang Adik
• Shen Teng — Full River Red
• Yakusho Koji — Perfect Days
• Tong Leung Chiu Wai — The Goldfinger

Best Actress

• Jiang Qinqin — Dwelling by the West Lake
• Jung Yu-mi — Sleep
• Zhou Dongyu — The Breaking Ice
• Audrey Lin — Trouble Girl
• Rinko Kikuchi — YOKO

Best Supporting Actor

• Park Hoon — 12.12: The Day
• Jack Tan — Abang Adik
• Nakamura Shido — Kubi
• Park Jung-min — Smugglers
• Sean Wong — Time Still Turns the Pages

Best Supporting Actress

• Hamabe Minami — Godzilla Minus One
• Rachel Leung — In Broad Daylight
• Tsutsui Mariko — Last Shadow at First Light
• Go Min-si — Smugglers
• Wan Fang — Snow in Midsummer

Best New Director

• Lkhagvadulam Purev-Ochir — City of Wind
• Pham Thien An — Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell
• Dominic Sangma — Rapture
• Amanda Nell Eu — Tiger Stripes
• Nick Cheuk — Time Still Turns the Pages

Best Newcomer

• Tergel Bold-Erdene — City of Wind
• Awat Ratanapintha — Doi Boy
• Yoyo Tse — Fly Me to the Moon
• Wang Yibo — Hidden Blade
• Shirata Mihaya — Last Shadow at First Light

Best Screenplay

• Hamaguchi Ryusuke — Evil Does Not Exist
• Sakamoto Yuji — Monster
• Prasanna Vithanage, Anushka Senanayake — Paradise
• Jason Yu — Sleep
• Pema Tseden — Snow Leopard

Best Editing

• Kim Sang-bum — 12.12: The Day
• Hamaguchi Ryusuke, Yamazaki Azusa — Evil Does Not Exist
• Matthieu Laclau — Only the River Flows
• A. Sreekar Prasad — Paradise
• Nick Cheuk, Keith Chan Hiu Chun — Time Still Turns the Pages

Best Cinematography

• Lee Mo-gae — 12.12: The Day
• Kitagawa Yoshio — Evil Does Not Exist
• Chengma Zhiyuan — Only the River Flows
• Azamat Dulatov — Qas
• Matthias Delvaux — Snow Leopard

Best Original Music

• Umebayashi Shigeru — Dwelling by the West Lake
• Ishibashi Eiko — Evil Does Not Exist
• Akmaral Mergen — Qas
• Anon Ch Momin — Rapture
• Lee Dong-june — Road to Boston

Best Costume Design

• Tim Yip — Creation of the Gods I: Kingdom of Storms
• Kurosawa Kazuko — Kubi
• Yoon Jung-hee — Smugglers
• Elaine Ng — Snow in Midsummer
• Man Lim Chung — The Goldfinger

Best Production Design

• Cho Hwa-sung — Concrete Utopia
• Mitsumatsu Keiko — Monster
• Zhang Menglun — Only the River Flows
• Daktse Drundrup — Snow Leopard
• Eric Lam — The Goldfinger

Best Visual Effects

• Eun Jae-hyun — Concrete Utopia
• Douglas Hans Smith — Creation of the Gods I: Kingdom of Storms
• Yamazaki Takashi, Shibuya Kiyoko, Takahashi Masaki, Nojima Tatsuji — Godzilla Minus One
• Jin Jong-hyun — The Moon
• Allen Wei, Ahdee Chiu, Ding Yanlai, Eric Xu — The Wandering Earth II

Best Sound

• Kim Hyun-sang — Concrete Utopia
• Yang Jiang, Zhao Nan — Creation of the Gods I: King of Storms
• Inoue Natsuko — Godzilla Minus One
• Vuong Gia Bao, Xander Toh — Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell
• Tu Duu-Chih, Wu Shu-Yao — Snow in Midsummer

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