[2013.03.20] ANDY LAU IS PLEASED WITH THE ASIAN FIL M AWARD RESULTS

Qi Xi (second right) with her husband Song Ning (right) and director Lou Ye (second left)

Eddie Garcia likes Hong Kong roast squab

Makiko Watanabe
courtesy of on.cc

courtesy of singtao.com

Andy Lau says that Chinese films are at a disadvantage since most are action and comedy films

Kwai Lun-Mei

Eddie Garcia is happy to win two awards
courtesy of mingpao.com

The 7th Asian Film Award took place two nights ago. Jury chair Andy Lau Tak Wa, Excellence in Asian Cinema award winner Michelle Yeoh (Yeung Chi King), Filipino Best Actor Eddie Garcia and others attended the celebration. Wa Jai after the Golden Horse Award was again invited to be on the jury. He joked that last year his film production rate was reduced so the jury job will stop. This year he will have many film releases and he hoped to have a chance to compete with his new films. Wa Jai said that he was very satisfied with the result and revealed that the Best Actor and the Best Actress votes were unanimous. Although earlier he participated in COLD WAR (HONG JIN) and did not participate in the Best Actor voting, personally he hoped that Eddie Garcia would win because his film BWAKAW was a happy movie.

As for the Filipino Best Actress, he felt that because both Filipino films were more stable, different from other heavy flavored films and perhaps thus caught the jury's eyes. This year Chinese films obviously lost some luster, was he disappointed? Wa Jai pointed out that last year Chinese films were more action and comedy, which put them at a disadvantage. When he looked at the nominations he already knew.

Kwai Lun-Mei although was no match for Nora Aunor for Best Actress, she still attended the celebration. She did not feel disappointed at all and did not need boyfriend Leon Dai to comfort her. On the other hand seeing so many elders made her very emotional. She said, "Elders are role models to properly learn from, I too hope that one day after such a long time I would become a very enthusiastic actor like the elders. For example the Best Actor in his 80s was still able to be so persistent with his performance. I was very touched."

The 83 year old Filipino actor Eddie Garcia with BWAKAW won Best Actor and the online My Favorite Actor awards. Yesterday Eddie Garcia said that he was very happy to receive two awards and looked forward to winning again next year. In his 64 year long career he has made over 500 films, directed 30 films and won countless awards. After years in film he has never thought about stopping. He pointed out that the Filipino film industry was in a depression. His award winning film was also an independent film that only took 10 days to make.

Japanese actress Makiko Watanabe won Best Supporting Actress. She said that she was very honored to win with CAPTURING DAD and joked that she was overjoyed. She also pointed out that she grew up on Hong Kong films, so she was very happy to meet so many elders at the award show. When asked which Hong Kong artist she would like to work with, she said, "They are all outstanding, I want to work with all of them so it's very hard to choose." Will her salary rocket after the award? Makiko Watanabe who has always made independent films said, "I don't know, if so I would be very happy. However with independent film I can't expect very high salary. If the script is good salary isn't a problem. Of course a raise would be the best." She said that when she started her career was not too smooth, luckily she had her family and friends' support. When she modeled she made a lot of money. Makiko Watanabe also complained that she did not have time to visit and said that she liked Chinese food. She hoped to have time to walk around.