Asano Tadanobu wins best leading actor award two years in a row at the 11th Asia Film Awards in Hong Kong

Asano Tadanobu was crowned best leading actor at the 11th Asia Film Awards' prize giving ceremony on 21 March at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre for his performance in the movie "Fuchi ni tatsu". This is the first time in the awards' history that an actor had won the same category for two years in a row. Asano got the award last year for his role in the movie "Kishibe no Tabi".

The Asia Film Awards started in 2007 to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Hong Kong's return  to Chinese rule and the prize giving ceremony is held there every March. This year, 28 countries and regions participated in the awards which were shown live via TV and Internet. Japanese films nominated in this year's competition included "Fuchi ni tatsu", "Shin Godzilla", "Ikari" and "Mohigan Kokyo ni kaeru" while Momoi Kaori and X JAPAN's YOSHIKI were invited to be the award presenters.

Asano who returned to Japan on the same night of the prize giving ceremony, said in his acceptance speech that he was honoured to be back to attend the award ceremony. As he had spent close to a year working on this movie, he was especially moved to be able to win the award with his acting in this movie which began its run on the world circuit at the Cannes Film Festival last May. To be able to come to the awards with the director Fukada Koji, he felt that this was the end of a a long journey for them and he was glad to be able to win as the director did not get it despite being nominated for best director. When told that he was the first to win the award in two consecutive news, Asano revealed his joy about being able to get the honour despite being surrounded by many veteran actors from Asia and it was worthwhile for him to make time to come to Hong Kong despite having to go back to Japan immediately after the ceremony and not being able to sample any Chinese cuisine. Asano also hopes that his award will create new hype for the movie which is still being shown in Japan and will be shown in other countries soon.

Sources: Eiga.com 1 / Eiga.com 2

Winners of the 8th TAMA Movie Awards (2016)

Movies which were screened between October 2015 and September 2016 were eligible for entry and the winners were decided by the TAMA Eiga Forum Committee. The prize giving ceremony was held on 19 November:

Best Movie
Over Fence
Danchi

Special Award
Distraction Babies
Jogging Wataridori

Best Actor
Miura Tomokazu (Katsuragi Jiken / 64 Rokuyon)
Odagiri Jo (Over Fence / FOUJITA)

Best Actress
Koizumi Kyoko (Fukigen na Kakko)
Aoi Yu (Over Fence / Kishibe no Tabi /  Kazoku wa tsurai yo)

Best New Director
Maeda Shiro (Fukigen na Kakko)
Koizumi Norihiro (Chihayafuru Kami no Ku / Chihayafuru Shimo no Ku)

Best New Actor
Wakaba Ryuya (Katsuragi Jiken)
Murakami Nijiro (Distraction Babies / Natsumi no Hotaru / Sayounara)

Best New Actress
Matsuoka Mayu (Chihayafuru Shimo no Ku / Neko nanka yondemo konai)
Komatsu Nana (Distraction Babies / Kurosaki-kun no iinari ni nante naranai / Bakuman / Hero Mania Seikatsu)

Sources: Natalie / TAMA Film Festival

Winners of the 25th Japan Movie Critics Award (2015)

Best Movie: Bakuman

Best Director: Ohne Hitoshi (Bakuman)

Best Leading Actor: Asano Tadanobu (Kishibe no Tabi)

Best Leading Actress: Tabe Mikako (Piece of Cake)

Best Supporting Actor: Ito Atsushi (Biri Girl)

Best Supporting Actress: Mitsushima Hikari (Kakekomi Onna to Kakedashi Otoko)

Best Newcomer (Komori Kazuko Award): Fujino Ryoko (Solomon no Gishou)

Best Newcomer (Minami Toshiko Award): Yamada Ryosuke (Grasshopper) / Itagaki Mizuki (Solomon no Gishou)

Best New Director: Matsunaga Daishi (Toire no Pieta)

Selection Committee Special Award: Hamaguchi Ryusuke (Happy Hour)

Golden Glory Award (Mizuno Haruo Award): Kusamura Reiko, Nishina Akiko and Hamada Mitsuo

Diamond Award (Yodogawa Nagaharu Award): Yamada Yoji & Yoshinaga Sayuri

Best Editing: Ito Nobuyuki (Tenkuu no Hachi)

Best Script: Manabe Katsuhiko (Solomon no Gishou)

Best Movie Music: Ikenaga Shoji (Misono Universe)

Best Cinematography: Machida Hiroshi (FOUJITA)

Source: Oricon

Winners of the 89th Kinema Junpo Best Ten (2015)

Best Japanese movie director: Hashiguchi Ryosuke (Koibitotachi)

Best Japanese movie script: Hashiguchi Ryosuke (Koibitotachi)

Best Leading Actress: Fukatsu Eri (Kishibe no Tabi / Kiseijuu Kanketsuhen)

Best Leading Actor: Ninomiya Kazunari (Haha to Kuraseba)

Best Supporting Actress: Kuroki Haru (Haha to Kuraseba / Maku ga agaru / Solomon no Gishou Parts 1 and 2)

Best Supporting Actor: Motoki Masahiro (Nihon no Ichiban Nagai Hi / Tenkuu no Hachi)

Best Female Newcomer: Hirose Suzu (Umimachi diary)

Best Male Newcomer: Shinohara Atsushi (Koibitotachi)

Best Foreign movie director: George Miller (Mad Max: Fury Road)

Best Japanese Movie: Koibitotachi

Best Foreign Movie: Mad Max: Fury Road

Best Cultural Movie: Okinawa Urizun no Ame

Best 10 Japanese movies
1) Koibitotachi
2) Nobi
3) Happy Hour
4) Umimachi diary
5) Kishibe no tabi
6) GONIN Saga
7) Kono kuni no sora
8) Solomon no Gishou Parts 1 and 2
9) Haha to Kuraseba
10) Kimi wa Iiko / Rolling

Best 10 Foreign movies
1) Mad Max: Fury Road
2) American Sniper
3) The Strange Case of Angelica
4) Birdman
5) The Assassin
6) History of the Arkanar Massacre
7) Whiplash
8) Winter Sleep
9) Inherent Vice
10) Still Life

Source: Kinema Junpo

Nominees from Japan in the 10th Asian Film Awards (2016)

Best Film: Koibitotachi

Best Director: Koreeda Hirokazu (Umimachi Diary)

Best Actor: Nagase Masatoshi (An)

Best Actress: Ayase Haruka (Umimachi Diary)

Best Supporting Actor: Asano Tadanobu (Kishibe no Tabi)

Best Supporting Actress: Tsuchiya Anna (Gonin Saga) / Ueno Juri (The Beauty Inside - Korean film)

Best Newcomer: Fujino Ryoko (Solomon no Gishou Part 1 and Part 2)

Best Screenplay: Ujita Takashi & Kurosawa Kiyoshi (Kishibe no Tabi)

Best Editing: Ozeki Yasuyuki (Bakuman)

Best Cinematography: Sasakibara Yasushi & Yamamoto Yoshiaki (Gonin Saga)

Best Original Music: Otomo Yoshihide (Kishibe no Tabi)

Best Costume Design: Miyamoto Masae (Kakekomi Onna to Kakedashi Otoko)

Best Production Design: Harada Tetsuo (Kakekomi Onna to Kakedashi Otoko)

Best Visual Effects: Onoue Katsuro (Shingeki no Kyojin)

Best Sound: Watanabe Shinji (Bakuman) / Nishiyama Toru (Zane - Sunde wa Ikenai Heya -)

Source: The 10th Asian Film Awards

Fukatsu Eri & Asano Tadanobu co-star in new movie "Kishibe no Tabi"

Fukatsu Eri and Asano Tadanobu will be co-starring in the new movie "Kishibe no Tabi" which is due to be shown next year in Japan and France.

They play a married couple Yusuke (Asano) and Mizuki (Fukatsu) who live apart for three years due to the sudden disappearance of Yusuke. Just when Mizuki has finally decided to move on with her life and go back to work, Yusuke suddenly returns home and invites Mizuki to go on a trip with him to meet the people who have helped him during the past three years. As a result of interacting with those people and getting to know a different side of Yusuke, Mizuki finds herself being drawn to him again but something else has also changed during the period of their separation.

Source: Sanspo