A poster of Hou Hsiao-hsien's "The Assassin."
Hou Hsiao-hsien's "The Assassin" won eight awards at the 10th annual Asian Film Awards, held yesterday in Macao, including best director, best film and best actress.
Taiwanese actress Shu Qi played the leading role of a female assassin in the Tang Dynasty era sent back to her home province by her mentor to kill its governor, who also happens to be her lover. In her acceptance speech for the best actress award, Shu said, "Thank you director Hou Hsiao-hsien, thank you for 'The Assassin,' and thank you to the bandages and medicine that helped get me through the two years of filming and production."
In addition to best film, best director, best actress, and best supporting actress, "The Assassin" won four other awards. This made it the most awarded film ever in Asian Film Awards history, breaking the record held by Wong Kar-wai's "The Grandmaster," which took home seven awards in 2014.
Besides the Asian Film Awards, director Hou has also won a string of international awards, including best director at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival for "The Assassin."
Other notable handouts include South Korean star Lee Byung-hun, who won best actor for his role in the political thriller "The Inside Men," beating Chinese director Feng Xiaogang who played a leading role in "Mr. Six." Though Feng lost the best actor award this year, and has lost multiple best director awards in the past, he did receive the Asian Film Awards 10th Anniversary Special Award last night.
Best supporting actress award goes to Zhou Yun for "The Assassin" while best supporting actor was handed to Asano Tadanobu for the Japanese film "Journey to the Shore."
Best newcomer was given to Jessie Li for her performance in the widely acclaimed thriller "Port of Call," which also won best editing award.
The Chinese art-house romantic film "Mountains May Depart" won best screenplay, while India's "Bajirao Mastani" won best visual effects.
Hong Kong martial arts choreographer Yuen Wo-ping, who has worked on films like "The Matrix","Kill Bill," "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon" and the more recent "Ip Man 3," was given this year's lifetime achievement award. Veteran Japanese actress Kirin Kiki was also given the trophy.
The awards were organized by the Hong Kong International Film Festival and were hosted at Macao's Venetian resort. Thirty-six films from nine Asian countries were competing for the top honors.
