--
The 5th ANNUAL ASIAN WORLD FILM FESTIVAL (AWFF) announced Festival award winners during the closing night ceremony, November 14, at the ArcLight in Culver City. Almost 70 feature films from 50 participating countries were presented during the nine-day festival that included 25 Oscar Best International Featured Film submissions and/or Golden Globe submitted films. The Awards ceremony, presented to a sold-out audience, was followed by a screening of Japan's Weathering with You and a reception at the Fifty One Chinese Kitchen. The AWFF took place from November 6 - 14 at the ArcLight Culver City Theater. The evening was hosted by actress Nancy Yoon, Co-founder of Asians In LA.
Said Georges Chamchoum, Executive and Program Director of the AWFF: This year's Asian World Film Festival was a huge success and a celebration of the Asian & Asian-American Cinema. We had an enthusiastic response by filmmakers across Asia creating an international window into the talents and visions of Asian filmmakers. Tonights awards represent the very best of the festival and we are proud to spotlight these talented filmmakers. We look forward to continuing to present films which are exciting, original, exceptional and inspiring.
AWFF once again partnered with The Snow Leopard Trust to raise awareness for the endangered snow leopard and its ecosystem in the high mountains of Asia. Snow Leopard Awards were presented by the 2019 AWFF Jury including Ms. Meryem Uzerli (Actress, Germany/Turkey), Jury President; Ms. Guka Omarova (Director, Kazakhstan), Ms. Kieu Chinh (Actress/Producer/Writer from USA/Vietnam), Ms. Sarah Finn (Casting Director, USA), Mr. Jeremy Kagan, (Emmy -winning Director, USA), Ms. Wenting (Ting Ting) Xu (HFPA), Ms. Iris Yamashita (Oscar -nominated Screenwriter).
The 2019 AWFF Award Winners are:
Snow Leopard Audience Award: 1982 (Lebanon), presented by Actress Tiffany Chu and accepted by Director Oualid Mouaness.
1982
Snow Leopard Best Actress Award: Arezoo Ariapoor, Fereshta Afshar, Hasiba Ebrahimi HAVA, MARYAM, AESHA (Afghanistan, Iran), presented by Ting Ting Xu. who also accepted on behalf of the actresses.
Snow Leopard Best Actor Award: Stepan Petrov in The Sun Above Me Never Sets (Yakutia, Russia), presented by actor Kieu Chin and accepted by Irina Engelis, Executive Director of the Yakutsk International Film Festival.
Snow Leopard Jury Award - Best Director: Dito Tsintsadze for Shindisi (Georgia), and accepted by Mr. Tsintsadze
Snow Leopard Special Jury Award: Aurora (Kyrgyzstan), presented by Sarah Finn and accepted by Director Bekzat Pirmatov.
Snow Leopard Best Film Award: The Sun Above Me Never Sets (Yakutia, Russian Federation), presented by Jury President Meryem Uzerli and accepted by Irina Engelis , Executive Director of the Yakutsk International Film Festival.
The Sun Above Me Never Sets
The Murray Weissman Poster Art Award was given to the film Meiduo (China), presented by Peter Kwon and was accepted by Li Zhu.
As previously announced, the AWFF opened with a screening of the new Warner Bros. film JUST MERCY which followed an awards presentation ceremony honoring actress Nancy Kwan (Flower Drum Song/The World of Suzie Wong) with the AWFF Lifetime Achievement Award. In addition, the AWFF American Red Cross/Tiffany Circle Courage to Dream Award was awarded to film director, Lena Kahn. Additional honors were bestowed upon actor Hiroyuki Sanda with the Snow Leopard Outstanding Cinematic Achievement Award, and Tiffany Chu for 2019 SNOW LEOPARD RISING STAR Award.
In addition, the winner of the first Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) Snow Leopard Short Film Award was Kyrgyzstan's Suium Sulaimanova for her film My Friend - My Enemy. Her film was selected from a dozen shorts by new filmmakers from across Asia and she was presented with the $5,000 scholarship award.
Also, in attendance were AWFF's Sadyk Sher-Niyaz (Founder/Chairman), Georges N. Chamchoum (Executive/Programing Director) Asel Sherniyazova (Co-Founder/ Managing Director), Jury President Meryem Uzerli, Tony Chan (Director, The Bravest), Said Faraj (Green Zone), Shun Oguri (Weathering with You), Tomer Oz (The Heart), Hiroki Shirota (The Outsider), Chen Tang (Mulan) Chris Tashima (Under the Blood-Red Sun), Toru Uchikado (Sea of Mirrors), Janet Wu (TV Personality), Takato Yonemoto (Naked Director), among others.
The Asian World Film Festival is proudly sponsored by Aitysh USA, Hollywood Foreign Press Association, Arclight Cinemas, Culver Hotel, City Of Culver City, Communication University of Zhejiang (China), Snow Leopard Trust, AKIpress, CJ Entertainment, Chosun Daily LA, Moredii, MDSUN, Novartizan, WECTAC, Korean Cultural Center LA, Beijing Genki Forest Beverage, Sakura Production USA, Cape, procolo.co, Gabys, Emporium Thai.
ABOUT THE ASIAN WORLD FILM FESTIVAL, NOVEMBER 6 - 14, 2019
The Asian World Film Festival (AWFF), founded by Kyrgyz public figure Sadyk Sher-Niyaz, brings the best of a broad selection of Asian World cinema to Los Angeles to draw greater recognition to the regions wealth of filmmakers and strengthen ties between the Asian and Hollywood film industries. Uniting through cross-cultural collaboration, the Festival champions films from over 50 countries across Asia, spanning from Turkey to Japan and from Russia to India and the Middle East. All films that participate in the Festival will have a unique chance to be guided through the challenging awards season, and showcased for the Motion Picture Academy, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and all Guilds for enhanced exposure, media attention and awards consideration. AWFF is a non-profit organization under Aitysh USA: www.asianworldfilmfest.org
CONNECT WITH AWFF:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AsianWorldFilmFest/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/asianworldff?lang=en
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/asianworld
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
31/05/2026
Olivia P rez-Collellmir to Premiere Original Work at Gaud Centennial in Barcelona The Berklee graduate and faculty member will debut her choral symphony with...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Zero in on one that says yes (and no)
Andy Marken May 29, 2026
0 Comments
Hero image courtesy of Deposit Photos
For content creators the most difficu...
29/05/2026
With InfoComm 2026 just weeks away, NDI is giving attendees plenty of reasons to...
29/05/2026
Reaffirming a partnership that has defined Canadian sports broadcasting since 19...
29/05/2026
Mobile/tablet is No. 2 device for watching TV, suggesting that the sports-production industry needs to take another look at the format
Ring Digital's Sprin...
29/05/2026
Berliner Ensemble, one of Berlin's five major theater companies, has expande...
29/05/2026
Solid State Logic will showcase its new compact, fly-away TCA Tour audio product...
29/05/2026
Gerald (Jerry) Pierce, a pioneering technologist who helped shape the digital transformation of the motion picture industry, passed away last month on April 12 ...
29/05/2026
Paramount+ will be the English-language U.S. home for Barclays Women's Super...
29/05/2026
Further strengthening its virtualisation strategy to fully support broadcasters ...
29/05/2026
Swiss broadcaster Canal Alpha has deployed Harmonic's award-winning, software-based XOS Advanced Media Processor to modernize playout operations across cant...
29/05/2026
PTZOptics will showcase a new generation of intelligent video workflows at InfoComm 2026, June 17-19, Las Vegas. Visitors to booth N8227 will see how PTZOptics ...
29/05/2026
Arizona's Family has launched the Arizona's Family Sports (AZFS) streaming app, a new direct-to-consumer destination for live, local sports. The app is ...
29/05/2026
Starting in 2027, DAZN will be the exclusive home of The Canadian Football Leagu...
29/05/2026
Comcast Business has detailed the advanced network infrastructure it has deploye...
29/05/2026
In two-day event, leaders from academia and industry explored solutions to chall...
29/05/2026
The Basketball Tournament (TBT), now entering their 13th year of competition, ha...
29/05/2026
Roku has launched FOX One as a Premium Subscription on The Roku Channel in the U.S. Roku customers can now subscribe to FOX One using their Roku account for liv...
29/05/2026
In its sixth year, the broadcaster's coverage has become a global brand and ...
29/05/2026
Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent ratings news and is derived from press re...
29/05/2026
The days are getting longer, the temperatures are rising, and playlists are filling up for the season. With summer around the corner, Spotify's global edito...
29/05/2026
New retro-inspired MPC announced
There are few devices that have gained the status held by Akai Pro's MPC range, and in recent years, the company have s...
29/05/2026
Save up to 30 on acclaimed titles
Following a successful launch at Superbooth 2026, Bjooks have revealed that they will be continuing the Kickstarter campa...
29/05/2026
Binaural monitoring application improved
Genelec have just released an update that brings some powerful new features to their HRTF-based binaural headphone ...
29/05/2026
6 June 2026 at SAE Institute, London, UK
IMSTA FESTA 2026 is almost upon us, with some of the biggest names in pro-audio set to descend upon SAE Institute i...
29/05/2026
Gerald (Jerry) Pierce, a pioneering technologist who helped shape the digital transformation of the motion picture industry, died April 12, 2026, at his home in...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Comparing 5 AI Video Enhancers for Restoring Old Video Quality
Kate Luvis May 29, 2026
0 Comments
Digitizing VHS, MiniDV, and other legacy formats doe...
29/05/2026
Studio Hamburg Builds New Post Pipeline with DaVinci Resolve Studio
Brie Clayton May 29, 2026
0 Comments
Workflow replaces a patchwork of legacy tools...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
At the Intersection of Music and Dance, an Epic Collaboration Boston Conservatory musicians and dancers found creative parallels in their recent performance o...
29/05/2026
Back to All News
Latino Film Institute Fellows Screen Their Short Films at the Egyptian Theatre
The Inclusion Fellowship and Spark Animation Grant uplifts 15 ...
29/05/2026
GLOOKAST LAUNCHES CINNAFILM TACHYON PLUGIN FOR MEDIA PRODUCER AND MEDIA SERVICES
This release first appeared here.
Visit our Tachyon product page or contact...
29/05/2026
May 29 2026, 09:00 (PDT) Dolby and rednote Bring More Immersive Storytelling to...
29/05/2026
Something fundamental has shifted in how people consume media. Audiences aren't abandoning television or radio content; they're just expanding how, wher...
29/05/2026
Youtube exclusive special drops today
Watch now
UKTV today announces another e...
-- 
