The Japanese film "Tokyo Sonata" won the top award and best screenwriting at the third annual Asian Film Awards in Hong Kong.
Masahiro Motoki" Masahiro Motoki won the best actor award for his work in "Departures," which won the Academy Award for Foreign Language Film last month. Director Hirokazu Koreeda Hirokazu Kore-eda was honored for his work on "Still Walking."
Other Best Picture nominees were Chen Kaige's Peking Opera film "Forever Enthralled," Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki's "Ponyo on the Cliff," Director John Woo's Chinese historical epic "Red Cliff" and Indonesia's "The Rainbow Troops."
"Rainbow Troops" (Laskar pelangi) premiered at Berlinale in the Panorama division. "Departures" won nine Awards of the Japanese Academy in addition to the Oscar. The animated "Ponyo on the Cliff (Gake no ue no Ponyo)" featured an all-star cast with the voices of Cate Blanchett, Matt Damon, Tina Fey, Cloris Leachman, Liam Neeson, Lily Tomlin and Betty White. "Forever Enthralled (Mei Lanfang)" lead actor Kaige Chen was nominated for a Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival.
