Tony Leung Wins Best Actor at Asian Film Awards

The Second Asian Film Awards Ceremony (第二屆亞洲電影大獎頒獎典禮) marked the beginning of the Hong Kong Entertainment Expo (香港影視娛樂博覽) today at the Hong Kong Convention And Exhibition Centre in Wanchai.

In an event that celebrated the best in cinema from across Asia, the Best Actor award was presented to Hong Kong's own Tony Leung (梁朝偉) for his performance in the highly acclaimed Lust Caution <色。戒> and the Best Actress accolade was bestowed upon Korean actress Jeon Do-yeon for her performance in Secret Sunshine.

Secret Sunshine also won Best Film and Best Director for Lee Chang-dong.

Tony made his acceptance speech in perfect English and expressed his thanks to director Ang Lee (李安) for showing him how to get into character. He also thanked his girlfriend Carina Lau (劉嘉玲) for her support. He added that without them he would not have this success.

Jeon seemed rather nervous when she accepted her award, saying that she did not know whether or not she would win with her portrayal of a mentally disturbed mother. She said that the biggest challenge was not playing a character with a psychological condition, but playing a mother because she does not have children of her own. She added that she also found it hard to pull out of character after filming

The Best Supporting Actor award was presented to top mainland actor Sun Honglei (孫紅雷) for his performance in Mongol, a historical epic directed by Russian filmmaker Sergei Bodrov. Sun expressed his disappointment that Sergei could not be at the ceremony and added that this award was not just his own achievement but a reflection of the quality of the production and cast.

Joan Chen (陳沖) scooped the Best Supporting Actress award for her role in The Sun Also Rises <太陽照常升起>. She began her acceptance by thanking director Jiang Wen (姜文) for giving her such a great part and also complimented him for being an exceptional director who has taught her a lot. She recalled many happy and unforgettable memories from filming and also thanked her husband and family.

Revered Japanese director Yoji Yamada was presented with the Lifetime Achievement award for his contribution to Japanese cinema over the past five decades.

Other awards presented included the Asian Newcomer award, which went to Hiroshi Ishii, and Best Screenplay, which went to Au Kin Yee (歐建兒) and Wai Ka-Fai (韋家輝) for Mad Detective <神探>.

Entertainment for the ceremony was provided by talented Singaporean songstress Stefanie Sun (孫燕姿), who performed songs in Mandarin, Cantonese and Korean. She revealed that she had spent a month perfecting the Korean song.

The "Asian Oscars" attracted many local and overseas guests to take a walk down the red carpet and many of the ladies showed off a selection of international and local designer frocks.

Shu Qi (舒淇) appeared wearing a pretty pink Valentino number and several hundred thousand dollars worth of Cartier jewellery. Asked about the rumours of her old flame Leon Lai (黎明)'s marriage, she wished him the best and commented on how romantic his wedding is being speculated to have been.

Also wearing seven-figures worth of Cartier jewellery was Miriam Yeung (楊千嬅), who donned a beautiful Marc Jacobs dress that revealed a playful glimpse of a white bra. She explained that this was part of the design and not a wardrobe malfunction. Asked about being photographed on a date with rumoured boyfriend Real Ting (丁子高) recently, Miriam said that the photograph was taken at the graduation party of an accountant friend and that there were many other people there. She laughed that life for an artiste was like a reality show every day, so she was prepared for any aspect of her life to be published.

When asked if she was aware of the news of her boss Leon's wedding, Miriam said that she knew he was currently on vacation, but was unsure as to whether or not he was getting married.

Fresh from taking a newcomer's award from an earlier film awards ceremony, Kate Tsui (徐子珊) attended the event in a figure hugging number and revealed that the dress had been especially flown in from London for the event. She was accompanied down the red carpet by fellow big screen newcomer Kevin Cheng (鄭嘉穎).

The Entertainment Expo continues with a string of high profile events until 13 April.