Lisa Lu and Awkwafina to be honored with AWFF Snow Leopard Award

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The 4th Annual Asian World Film Festival (AWFF) has announced that actresses Lisa Lu and Awkwafina will be honored with the Snow Leopard Awards at the festival's closing night ceremony, November 1 at the ArcLight Cinema in Downtown Culver City (9500 Culver Blvd.) AWFF is once again partnering with The Snow Leopard Trust to raise awareness for the endangered snow leopard and its ecosystem in the high mountains of Asia. The Asian World Film Festival, which includes 16 Oscar and seven Golden Globe Foreign Language submissions, will run through October 24 - November 1, 2018.

Highly acclaimed actress Lisa Lu will be honored with the Snow Leopard Lifetime Achievement Award. She has been making movies for over six decades, including The Joy Luck Club, The Last Emperor and this year's smash hit Crazy Rich Asians. Lu is considered one of the few first Chinese American actresses that opened the door to Hollywood

The Snow Leopard Rising Star Award goes to Awkwafina, whose outlandish character was the scene stealer in Crazy Rich Asians. Also known for her rapping talents, Awkwafina achieved acclaim for her acting in Ocean's Eight and Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising.

The snow leopard is one of Asia's most iconic animals and an ambassador of the continent's rich and diverse cultures, says founder and chairman of the Asian World Film Festival and Kyrgyz filmmaker Sadyk Sher-Niyaz, It's a natural fit for our award and our festival! The Asian World Film Festival's main cinematic award is named after the snow leopard.

Festival Executive and Program Director Georges Chamchoum stated, AWFF has always been aware of the preservation of nature and animals, which goes hand in hand with our mission of diversity and championing the Asian Cinema. For us it is a duty and pleasure to be both associated and partnered with the Snow Leopard Trust.

In addition, Turkish superstar T rkan oray will be accepting a special tribute award honoring Chingiz Aitmatov as the AWFF spotlights the 90th anniversary of the Soviet/Kyrgyz author and statesman on Tuesday, October 30th. Aitmatov is known for such films as Pervyy uchitel and Jamila (1994). His literary works have been translated into more than 150 languages. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Aitmatov's novels found a new audience in the West and gained popularity in Germany.

As previously announced, India's Golden Globes foreign language submission Love Sonia was presented at the Festival's opening night on October 24. The AWFF American Red Cross/Tiffany Circle Courage to Dream Award was presented to Love Sonia actress Freida Pinto at a special presentation prior to the screening. She is best known for her leading role in Slumdog Millionaire.

China's In Harm's Way will be the closing night film set to screen on November 1. The Centerpiece film will be Burning, South Korea's current Oscar submission. For an updated AWFF Film Schedule, please visit asianworldfilmfest.org/2018.

The Asian World Film Festival is proudly sponsored by SOOM FOUNDATION, City of Culver City, Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), Arclight Theaters, SC Johnson, JK Holdings, MoRedii, Sun Entertainment Culture Limited, MDSUN Skin Care, CTX Club, Korean Cultural Center (Los Angeles), CAPE (Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment), CJ Entertainment, SAMSSON GROUP, Variety, The Korea Daily-JoongAng Ilbo, RK Media, AKIpress News Agency (Kyrgyzstan), Novartizan, WECTAC (West Coast Turkish Chamber of Commerce), PROCOLO.CO, Emporium Thai (Westwood), Fifty One Chinese Kitchen (Culver City), Gabys Mediterranean, Tiger Beer, The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, Pechanga Resort & Casino, SC Global, LOTTE, MDSUN Cosmetics, and Nutrivista. The AWFF host venue is the historic Culver Hotel.

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ABOUT THE ASIAN WORLD FILM FESTIVAL

The Asian World Film Festival (AWFF) brings the best of a broad selection of Asian World cinema to Los Angeles to draw greater recognition to the regions wealth of filmmakers, strengthening ties between the Asian and Hollywood film industries. Uniting through cross-cultural collaboration, our festival champions films from over 50 countries across Asia spanning from Turkey to Japan and 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

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