‘Decision To Leave’ leads Asian Film Awards nominees

The Asian Film Awards has announced the nominees for its upcoming 2023 awards ceremony set to take place this March.

• READ MORE: The 10 best Asian films of 2022

The 16th edition of the awards will be held at the Hong Kong Jockey Club Auditorium in the Hong Kong Palace Museum on March 12. Ahead of the ceremony, the Asian Film Awards has unveiled its nominees, with Park Chan-Wook’s Decision To Leave emerging as a major contender with multiple nominations in major award categories.

Indonesian director Makbul Mubarak also emerged as a standout, gaining a Best New Director nomination for his first full-length feature film Autobiography as well as a Best Screenplay nomination. Other notable nominations include Lav Diaz’s multinational feature When The Waves Are Gone garnering a nomination for Best Film, and Indian action-musical RRR picking up nominations for Best Visual Effects and Best Sound.

Decision To Leave has also been shortlisted for International Feature Film at the upcoming 95th Academy Awards.  The film joins joins Belgium’s Close, Cambodia’s Return to Seoul, Sweden’s Cairo Conspiracy and more on the Oscars shortlist, which only includes 15 titles for this year’s edition. The film first debuted at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year, where director Park was awarded the festival’s coveted Best Director prize.

Decision To Leave clinched the second spot in NME‘s list of the best Asian films of 2022, with Hidzir Junaini writing: “This game of simmering longing proves to be more electrifying and erotic than simple lust. This beautifully filmed love story is as twisted as they come.”

NME’s Rhian Daly said of Decision To Leave in a four-star review: “It’s the kind of film that feels like, even after multiple viewings, it will still seem like a mystery – leaving you second-guessing and questioning plot points and little moments.”

The nominees for the 16th Asian Film Awards are:

Best Film
Decision To Leave by Park Chan-wook (Korea)
Drive My Car by Hamaguchu Ryusuke (Japan)
Poet by Darezhan Omirbayev (Kazakhstan)
Ponniyin Selvan: Part I by Mani Ratnam (India)
When the Waves Are Gone by Lav Diaz (Philippines, France, Portugal, Denmark)

Best Director
Kore-Eda Hirokazu for Broker (Korea)
Park Chan-wook for Decision to Leave (Korea)
Hamaguchi Ryusuke for Drive My Car (Japan)
Darezhan Omirbayev for Poet (Kazakhstan)
Davy Chou for Return to Seoul (France, Germany, Belgium, Cambodia)

Best Actress
Sylvia Chang for her work in A Light Never Goes Out (Hong Kong)
Karena Lam for her work in American Girl (Taiwan)
Happy Salma for her work in Before, Now & Then (Indonesia)
Tang Wei for her work in Decision to Leave (Korea)
Baisho Chieko for her work in Plan 75 (Japan)

Best Actor
Park Hae-il for Decision To Leave (Korea)
Nishijima Hidetoshi for Drive My Car (Japan)
Suzuki Ryohei for his work in Egoist (Japan)
Zhang Yi for Home Coming (China)
Mohsen Tanabandeh for World War III (Iran)
Tony Leung Chiu Wai for Where the Wind Blows (Hong Kong)

Best Supporting Actress
Ando Sakura for A Man (Japan)
Laura Basuki for Before, Now & Then (Indonesia)
Kim So-jin for Emergency Declaration (Korea)
Yin Tao for Home Coming (China)
Kawai Yumi for Plan 75 (Japan)

Best Supporting Actor
Okada Masaki for Drive My Car (Japan)
Miyazawa Hio for Egoist (Japan)
Im Si-wan for Emergency Declaration (Korea)
Oh Kwang-rok for Return to Seoul (France, Germany, Belgium, Cambodia)
Hui Koon Man for Where the Wind Blows (Hong Kong)

Best New Director
Makbul Mubarak for Autobiography (Indonesia, France, Singapore, Poland, Philippines, Germany, Qatar)
Saim Sadiq for Joyland (Pakistan)
Jigme Trinley for One and Four (China)
Hayakawa Chie for Plan 75 (Japan)
Kim Se-in for The Apartment with Two Women (Korea)

Best Newcomer
Louise Wong for Anita (Hong Kong)
Lee Ji-eun for Broker (Korea)
YangEnyou for Lighting Up the Stars (China)
Park Ji-min foir Return to Seoul (France, Germany, Belgium, Cambodia)
Mak Pui Tung for The Sparring Partner (Hong Kong)

Best Screenplay
Makbul Mubarak for Autobiography (Indonesia, France, Singapore, Poland, Philippines, Germany, Qatar)
Chung Seo-kyung, Park Chan-wook for Decision to Leave (Korea)
Hamaguchi Ryusuke, Oe akamasa for Drive My Car (Japan)
Liu Jiangjiang, Yu Min for Lighting Up the Stars (China)
Lav Diaz for When the Waves Are Gone (Philippines, France, Portugal, Denmark)

Best Editing
KimSang-beom for Decision to Leave (Korea)
Yamazaki Azusa for Drive My Car (Japan)
Zhu Lin, Yong Wei, Gao Qiongjiali for Lighting Up the Stars (China)
Sreekar Prasad for Ponniyin Selvan: Part I (India)
Dounia Sichov for Return to Seoul (France, Germany, Belgium, Cambodia)

Best Cinematography
Batara Goempar for Before, Now & Then (Indonesia)
Kim Ji-yong for Decision to Leave (Korea)
Lu Songye for One and Four (China)
Urata Hideho for Plan 75 (Japan)
Ravi Varman for Ponniyin Selvan: Part I (India)

Best Original Music
Cho Young Wuk for Decision to Leave (Korea)
Ishibashi Eiko for Drive My Car (Japan)
A.R. Rahman for Ponniyin Selvan: Part I (India)
Jérémie Arcache, Christophe Musset for Return to Seoul (France, Germany, Belgium, Cambodia)
Bahman Ghobadi, Vedat Yildirim for The Four Walls (Turkey)

Best Costume Design
Ryu Hyun-min, Oh Jung-geun for Alienoid (Korea)
Karen Yip, Dora Ng for Anita (Hong Kong)
Retno Ratih Damayanti for Before, Now & Then (Indonesia)
Shinozuka Nami for Egoist (Japan)
Eka Lakhani for Ponniyin Selvan: Part I (India)

Best Production Design
Vida Sylvia Theresia for Before, Now & Then (Indonesia)
Ryu Seong-hie for Decision to Leave (Korea)
Li Miao for Home Coming (China)
Thota Tharani for Ponniyin Selvan: Part I (India)
Bill Lui, Andrew Wong for Where the Wind Blows (Hong Kong)

Best Visual Effects
Jung Seung-oh for Alienoid (Korea)
Zhang Fan for Moon Man (China)
Srinivas Mohan for RRR (India)
Sato Atsuki for Shin Ultraman (Japan)
Chas Chau, Leung Wai Kit, Kwok Tai for Warriors of Future (Hong Kong)

Best Sound
Tu Duu-Chih for Anita (Hong Kong)
Kim Suk-won for Decision to Leave (Korea)
Nomura Miki, Obo Tatsuya for Drive My Car (Japan)
Vincent Villa for Return to Seoul (France, Germany, Belgium, Cambodia)
Ashwin Rajashekarr for RRR (India)

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