昨晚，第34届香港国际电影节的重头单元——第四届亚洲电影大奖在香港会议展览中心举行。韩国电影《母亲》成当晚最大赢家，一举获得最佳影片、最佳女主角和最佳编剧三项大奖，内地导演陆川、摄影师曹郁则凭借《南京！南京！》分别获得最佳导演和最佳摄影两项大奖，内地演员王学圻凭借《十月围城》获得最佳男主角奖，本届的亚洲电影杰出贡献大奖已提前揭晓，内地导演张艺谋获得此项殊荣。

They're only four years old, but the Asian Film Awards (AFA) could well be the platform that get Asian filmmakers and stars the international attention they deserve. Certainly they have been ignored by the Academy Awards for too long. With time, and a few improvements to the AFA's ceremony, we think that could happen.

The AFAs do have the support of the Asian film industry, with many big-screen heavy hitters showing up at the Hong Kong Convention Center in Hong Kong on March 22 to accept their awards.


Notables included Indian film megastar Amitabh Bachchan who made a gracious acceptance speech for his Lifetime Achievement award and Chinese director Zhang Yimou, who took home a Special Achievement award.

Then there was superstar Asian actress Donatella Versace. Umm, Donatella Versace?

Versace's appearance could be interpreted as out of place, even though we understand the logic in bringing Versace in to present Best Costume as it was intended to "help bridge the gap between East and West design", or something along those lines. But the fact is Versace's on-stage presence inspired more whispers of the less-than-kind variety. And her moment came with a truly cringe-worthy scripted verbal tete-a-tete with her co-presenter in delivering the award for Best Costume.
Scripted moments

The scripted exchanges between presenters could be drastically toned down or cut altogether. Part of the problem is the audience is multinational and there is no common language. English is perhaps the best bet. But when speakers attempt a "clever" exchange, people in the audience have to wait for it to be translated, so the effect is dissipated, and a truly unfunny comment becomes glaringly atrocious when the audience can watch the person on stage sweat out an uncomfortable silence.


What about the hosts? Angela Chow and model Lisa S did a fair enough job of filling shoes on stage, but had absolutely no chemistry between them, which was ironically most obvious during their Sex in the City moment, talking about how they have such great chemistry while sipping strawberry filled Champagne.

That said, there did exist some nice moments between personalities. Taiwanese actress Vivian Hsu was overflowing with charm while presenting an award with her co-presenter. Maybe they'll be available to host next year's show?

At this early stage, the AFAs do not need fake humor or silly, poorly scripted exchanges. They just need to show they've earned the respect from the Asian Film Industry and put on a good show that presents the awards in that way. The AFAs can't be an Academy Awards clone, it has to be its own and still has to find its own identity, which is apparent in the actual award design style. What it is, we're not sure.
Solid selections

What the AFA lacks in presentation, it makes up for in film selection. With a jury of 14 film professionals with internationally recognized experience and expertise in cinema from 12 territories, and headed up by Tony Leung Kai-fai, this year's AFAs are striving to make sure nominated films and selected winners are based on merit, not lobbying.

As the AFAs continue over the coming years, all previous AFA winners will be invited to join a group of "Voting Members". These Voting Members will be able to vote on the final nominations to determine the winners.

The AFA's presentation and ceremony is not quite there yet, let down by its Convention Center atmosphere and scripted moments, but that's not what truly matters. They do an excellent job of highlighting Asian films from the region, and in an industry lacking in worldwide recognition, this is a very good thing. Given time and support, the AFAs could give the Asian film industry the fillip it needs.

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