The 12th annual Asian Film Awards (AFA) were held at The Venetian Macao on Saturday, March 17, 2018. The awards ceremony is hosted every year by the Asian Film Awards Academy (AFAA), which consists of three major international film festivals in Asia, the Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF), the Busan International Film Festival and the Hong Kong International Film Festival.
 
The 12th AFA attracted participants from all over Asia, and was a great success. Many nominees from Japan were on hand for the event, including director Yuya ISHII from The Tokyo Night Sky Is Always the Densest Shade of Blue, director Yoshiyuki KISHI, actor YANG Ik-june and actress Akari KINOSHITA from Kishi’s film, Wilderness.
 
Yuya ISHII won the 12th AFA Best Director Award for The Tokyo Night Sky Is Always the Densest Shade of Blue, and expressed his happiness and gratitude from the stage.
 
YANG Ik-june won the Best Supporting Actor Award for his role in Wilderness, Norio ISHII won the Best Visual Effects Award for Legend of the Demon Cat and Joe HISAISHI won the Best Original Music Award for Our Time Will Come.
 
The Best Film Award was given to Youth, directed by FENG Xiaogang of China. But the Special Opening Presentation of the 30th TIFF, Legend of the Demon Cat directed by CHEN Kaige, emerged as the numerical winner of the night. DONG Yue, whose The Looming Storm won the 30th TIFF Award for Best Artistic Contribution, won the 12th AFA Best New Director Award.
 
For the full winners list, please refer to the below.

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Yuya ISHII’s speech:
Thank you so much. Ten years ago, I received the Edward Yang New Talent Award at the 2nd Asian Film Awards, and I remember it gave me encouragement and confidence. So I have a special feeling winning this Asian Film Award for the best director. Thank you so much.
 
YANG Ik-june’s speech:
I thought we would not win the award, but we did, so now we have a good reason to drink tonight. Our team (the Wilderness crew) is the best! Thank you very much.
 
Norio ISHII’s speech:
It’s a great honor to receive such a wonderful award. Also, I really appreciate our director, CHEN　Kaige, for giving me this opportunity. I would like to tell all the crew on the film who couldn’t come here today, “Thank You”!

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2018 Asian Film Awards winners:

　

Best Film:	Youth
Best Director:	Yuya ISHII for The Tokyo Night Sky Is Always the Densest Shade of Blue
Best New Director:	DONG Yue for The Looming Storm
Best Actor:	Louis KOO in Paradox
Best Actress:	Sylvia CHANG in Love Education
Best Supporting Actor:	YANG Ik-june in Wilderness
Best Supporting Actress:	ZHANG Yuqi in Legend of the Demon Cat
Best Newcomer:	Chutimon CHUENGCHAROENSUKYING in Bad Genius
Best Action Film:	Paradox
Best Screenplay:	Mayank TEWARI, Amit V MASURKAR for Newton
Best Editing:	SHIN Min-kyung for The King
Best Cinematography:	KIM Ji-yong for The Fortress
Best Original Music:	Joe HISAISHI for Our Time Will Come
Best Costume Design:	CHEN Tongxun for Legend of the Demon Cat
Best Production Design:	TU Nan and LU Wei for Legend of the Demon Cat
Best Visual Effects:	Norio ISHII for Legend of the Demon Cat
Best Sound:	TU Duu-chih and WU Shu-yao for The Great Buddha⁺
Excellence in Asian Cinema Award:	Kara WAI Ying-hung
Lifetime Achievement Award:	Sylvia CHANG
AFA Next Generation Award:	LIM Yoon-a

 
Nominees from Japan:
Best Film: The Third Murder
Best Director: Yuya ISHII (The Tokyo Night Sky Is Always the Densest Shade of Blue)
Best New Director: Yoshiyuki KISHI (Wilderness)
Best Actress: Yu AOI (Birds Without Names)
Best Supporting Actor: Ik-june YANG (Wilderness)
Best Supporting Actress: Hana SUGISAKI (Blade of the Immortal), Suzu HIROSE (The Third Murder)
Best Newcomer: Akari KINOSHITA (Wilderness)
Best Action Film: Blade of the Immortal
Best Editing: KORE-EDA Hirokazu (The Third Murder)
Best Cinematography: Mikiya TAKIMOTO (The Third Murder),
Best Original Music: Taro IWASHIRO (Wilderness), Joe HISAISHI (Our Time Will Come *Chinese Film)
Best Costume Design: Yuya MAEDA (Blade of the Immortal)
Best Production Design: Yohei TANEDA (The Third Murder)
Best Visual Effects: Shintaro SAKAI (Gintama), Norio ISHII (Legend of the Demon Cat *Co-production Film of Japan, Hong Kong and Mainland China)