15th Asian Film Awards

Asian Film Awards

Presented byThe Asian Film Awards Academy (AFAA)Announced onNominations: September 9, 2021 (2021-09-09)Presented onOctober 8, 2021 (2021-10-08)SiteBusan, South KoreaHosted by

Kim Gyu-ri
Lee Seung-guk

Official websiteAsian Film AwardsHighlightsBest PictureWife of a SpyAsian Film Excellence AwardLee Byung-hun (South Korea)Best DirectionZhang Yimou
One SecondBest ActorYoo Ah-in
Voice of SilenceBest ActressYū Aoi
Wife of a SpyBest Supporting ActorKim Hyun-bin
The Silent ForestBest Supporting ActressAju Makita
True MothersMost awards3 - Wife of a SpyMost nominations6 - Cliff Walkers

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The 15th Asian Film Awards was held on October 8, 2021, in Busan at Haeundae. Like 2020 edition it was staged with the 26th Busan International Film Festival in hybrid format that combines online and face-to-face participation.^[1] The award show was hosted by actress Kim Gyu-ri and broadcaster Lee Seung-guk.^[2]

In 15th edition of Asian Film Awards, 36 films from 8 Asian regions competed for 16 awards.^[3] Director Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Wife of a Spy (2020) won the best picture award^[4] at the ceremony streamed live on YouTube and Naver.^[5]

Nomination committee

Edmund LEE - South China Morning Post Film Editor
ICHIYAMA Shozo - Programming Director, Tokyo International Film Festival
JEONG Yeong-beom - President, Star J Entertainment
Kiki FUNG - Hong Kong International Film Festival Programme Consultant
DAN Kyoko - Film Coordinator, Marketing Consultant
ONDA Yasuko - Staff Writer, Yomiuri Newspaper
SHAN Dongbing - Managing Director, Delight Consultancy
Alex JIA - Vice President & CCO, WD Pictures
PARK Sun-young - Busan International Film Festival Programmer for Asian Cinema

Jury

Lee Chang-dong as Jury President - Director and writer^[6]
NAM Dong-chul - Busan International Film Festival Program Director, author of the Korean Film Weekly Cine 21
Janet WU Yanyan - Director, China Film Foundation – WuTianMing Film Fund for Young Talents
Jennifer JAO - Vice Chairman and Director, Taipei Film Commission
ISHIZAKA Kenji - Senior Programmer, Tokyo International Film Festival
Sabrina BARACETTI - President, Udine Far East Film Festival and Centro Espressioni Cinematografiche
Jacob WONG - Director, Hong Kong Asia Film Financing Forum, HKIFFS, Delegate for mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong of the Berlinale
Briccio SANTOS - President, Film ASEAN

Awards and nominations

Complete list of nominees:^[7]^[8]^[9]^[10]

Source Awardees:^[11]^[12]^[13]

Best Film	Best Director
Wife of a Spy Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy The Disciple The Book of Fish One Second	Zhang Yimou – One Second Adhilkan Yerzhanov [ru; fr] – Yellow Cat Kiyoshi Kurosawa – Wife of a Spy Ryusuke Hamaguchi – Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy Lee Joon-ik – The Book of Fish
Best Actor	Best Actress
Yoo Ah-in – Voice of Silence as Tae-in Kōji Yakusho – Under the Open Sky as Masao Mikami Mo Tzu-Yi [zh] – Dear Tenant as Lin Jian-yi Zhang Yi – One Second as fugitive Lam Ka Tung – Limbo as Brother Chin	Yū Aoi – Wife of a Spy as Satoko Fukuhara Jeon Jong-seo – The Call as Oh Young-sook Zhang Zifeng – Sister as An Ran, an older sister Chen Shu-fang – Little Big Women as Lin Xiu-ying Asel Sadvakasova [kk] – Ulbolsyn as Ulbolsyn
Best Supporting Actor	Best Supporting Actress
Kim Hyun-bin [ko] - The Silent Forest as Xiao Guang Yu Hewei [zh] - Cliff Walkers as Zhou Yi Park Jung-min - Deliver Us from Evil as Yui Tse Kwan-ho - Drifting as Master Uno Shohei [ja] - The Voice of Sin as Ikushima Soichiro	Aju Makita - True Mothers as Hikari Katakura Qin Hailu - Cliff Walkers as Wang Yu Loletta Lee - Drifting as Chan Mui Hsieh Ying-xuan - Little Big Women as Chen Wan-qing Jang Yoon-ju - Three Sisters as Mi-ok
Best New Director	Best Newcomer
Hong Eui-jeong - Voice of Silence Yūjirō Harumoto [ja] - A Balance PS Vinothraj - Pebbles Yin Ruoxi - Sister Han Shuai [ca] - Summer Blur Ahmad Bahrami [fa] - The Wasteland	Liu Haocun - One Second Gong Seung-yeon - Aloners Misaki Hattori [ja] - Midnight Swan Rouhollah Zamani - Sun Children Buffy Chen - The Silent Forest
Best Screenplay	Best Editing
Chaitanya Tamhane - The Disciple Chen Yu-hsun - My Missing Valentine You Xiaoying [zh] - Sister Hong Eui-jeong - Voice of Silence	Li Yongyi - Cliff Walkers Kim Hyung-joo - Deliver Us from Evil Lai Hsiu-hsiung - My Missing Valentine Hassan Hassandust [fa] - Sun Children Tina Baz, Shibuya Yangichi - True Mothers
Best Cinematography	Best Music
Masoud Amini Tirani [fa] - The Wasteland Yūta Tsukinaga [ja] - Any Crybabies Around? [ja] Zhao Xiaoding - Cliff Walkers Hong Kyung-pyo - Deliver Us from Evil Cheng Siu-Keung - Limbo Yerkinbek Ptyraliyev - Yellow Cat	Day Tai [zh] - The Way We Keep Dancing [zh] Jo Yeong-wook - Cliff Walkers Mowg - Deliver Us from Evil Lao Zai - One Second
Best Costume Design	Best Production Design
Valerian Spring Tree - Wife of a Spy Chen Minzheng - Cliff Walkers Cho Sang-kyung, Kwak Jung-ae - Space Sweepers Shim Hyun-seob - The Book of Fish Yermek Utegenov - Yellow Cat	Kenneth Mak - Limbo Li Miao - A Writer's Odyssey Gokuldas - Labyrinth Lee Jae-Sung - The Book of Fish Ataka Norifumi - Wife of a Spy
Best Visual Effects	Best Sound
Tim Crosbie, Joy Wu - The Eight Hundred Eric Xu, Allen Wei - A Writer's Odyssey Tomi Kuo - My Missing Valentine Issei Oda - Ora Ora, Be Going Alone Jeong Seong-jin, Jeong Chol-min - Space Sweepers	Nopawat Likitwong [pl] - Limbo Hironaka Chiyori - Any Crybabies Around? [ja] Renganaath Ravee - Labyrinth Choi Tae-young [ko] - Space Sweepers Fu Kang - The Eight Hundred
Excellence in Asian Cinema Award	2020 Highest Grossing Asian Film
Lee Byung-hun	The Blade of Destruction: Infinite Train (Theatrical Version)

Films with multiple nominations

The following films received multiple nominations:

Nominations	Films
6	Cliff Walkers
5	One Second
5	Wife of a Spy
4	The Book of Fish
	Limbo
	Deliver Us from Evil
3	My Missing Valentine
	Sister
	Space Sweepers
	Voice of Silence
	Yellow Cat

References

^ Ham Nayan (September 9, 2021). "유아인·전종서, 제15회 아시안필름어워즈 주연상 후보 [공식]" [Yoo Ah-in and Jeon Jong-seo, 15th Asian Film Awards Nominees for Best Actor [Official]]. Sports Donga (in Korean). Naver. Archived from the original on September 9, 2021. Retrieved September 9, 2021.
^ Song Il-seop (October 8, 2021). "[MD포토] 김규리-이승국, '저희가 사회 맡았어요'" [[MD Photo] Gyu-ri Kim and Seung-guk Lee, 'We hosted the show']. My Daily (in Korean). Naver. Archived from the original on October 8, 2021. Retrieved October 8, 2021.
^ Kim No-eul (September 9, 2021). "유아인-전종서, 亞필름어워즈 주연상 후보‥이창동 심사위원장[공식]" [Yoo Ah-in and Jeon Jong-seo, two Film Awards nominees for Best Actor…Lee Chang-dong, Jury Chairman [Official]]. Newsen (in Korean). Naver. Archived from the original on September 9, 2021. Retrieved September 9, 2021.
^ Sabastian Nadilo (October 8, 2021). "15th Asian Film Awards – Winners 2021". Asian Film Festivals. Archived from the original on October 8, 2021. Retrieved October 9, 2021.
^ Ji-eun Kim (October 8, 2021). "[26th BIFF]日 '스파이의 아내' AFA 작품상…유아인 주연상(종합)" [[26th BIFF] 'The Spy's Wife' AFA Best Picture Award... Yoo Ah-in Best Leading Actor (Overall)]. Newsis (in Korean). Naver. Archived from the original on October 8, 2021. Retrieved October 8, 2021.
^ Frater, Patrick (September 9, 2021). "Asian Film Awards Nominations Favor Titles From China, Japan and Korea". Variety. Archived from the original on September 9, 2021. Retrieved September 9, 2021.
^ Sabastian Nadilo (September 9, 2021). "15th Asian Film Awards – Nominations 2021". Asian Film Festivals. Archived from the original on September 10, 2021. Retrieved October 9, 2021.
^ "The Asian Film Awards Academy (Academy) today announced the finalists for the 15th Asian Film Awards". Asian Film Awards Academy. AFA. September 9, 2021. Archived from the original on September 9, 2021. Retrieved September 9, 2021.
^ Kang Min-kyung (September 9, 2021). "유아인·전종서, 제15회 亞필름어워즈 남녀주연상 노미 [공식]" [Yoo Ah-in and Jeon Jong-seo, 15th Film Awards Nomi [Official]]. Star News (in Korean). Naver. Archived from the original on September 9, 2021. Retrieved September 9, 2021.
^ "15th Asian Film Awards – Nominations 2021". Asian Film Festivals. September 9, 2021. Archived from the original on September 10, 2021. Retrieved September 10, 2021.
^ "[제15회 아시아필름어워즈]유아인·아오이 유우 주연상..이병헌 아시아영화엑설런스상(종합)" [[15th Asian Film Awards] Yoo Ah-in, Aoi Yuu Best Actor Award..Lee Byung-hun Asian Film Excellence Award (Comprehensive)]. Herald POP (in Korean). Naver. October 8, 2021. Archived from the original on October 8, 2021. Retrieved October 8, 2021.
^ Kim Bo-ra (October 8, 2021). "유아인·아오이 유우 '주연상'→이병헌 '아시아영화엑설런스상'…韓 4관왕(AFA)[종합]" [Yoo Ah-in and Aoi Yu 'Best Actor' → Lee Byung-hun's 'Asian Film Excellence Award'… Korea 4 Crowns (AFA) [Overall]]. Osen (in Korean). Naver. Archived from the original on September 22, 2023. Retrieved October 8, 2021.
^ Souw, Rebecca; Frater, Patrick (October 8, 2021). "'Wife of a Spy' Wins Top Prize at Asian Film Awards". Variety. Archived from the original on October 9, 2021. Retrieved October 9, 2021.