Malaysia bags two AIFFA awards
Boost for Malaysian films as Amerul Affendi wins Best Supporting Actor Award, Nam Ron adjudged Best Director
KUCHING: The powerful rendition of the Malay standard ‘Gemilang’ which means ‘glorious’ by Jaclyn Victor sums up Malaysia’s achievement at the ASEAN International Film Festival and Awards (AIFFA) 2019 Gala Night at Pullman Hotel here last night.
Malaysia won two awards through Amerul Affendi who walked away with the Best Supporting Actor Award for his role in the film Crossroads: One Two Jaga, while the film’s director Nam Ron was named Best Director.
Meanwhile, Filipino movie Signal Rock won the Best Film category while Filipino, Barbara Miguel, won Best Supporting Actress for her performance in 1-2-3 Gasping For Air.
The Philippines also bagged the Best Actor award through Kristoffer King but the jubilation was tempered by his passing two months earlier.
Best Screenplay was awarded to Vietnamese movie Song Lang, while Ave Maryam was deemed to have the Best Film Editing.
Na Gyi from Myanmar was awarded the Best Director of Photography for his work in Mi, while the beautiful Raihaanun was named Best Actress for her emotionally stirring performance in 27 Steps of May.
Additionally, three movies received the Special Jury Award; namely Hari Minggu Yang Ke-4 from Brunei, Bad Genius from Thailand and Shwe Kyar (Golden Lotus) from Myanmar.
To round out the night, collaborative film Rina 2 (between Brunei and Laos) was awarded the ASEAN Spirit Award while the AIFFA 2019 Lifetime Achievement Award was awarded to Slamet Rahardjo.
AIFFA’s special guest of honour, actor Steven Seagal, was presented with the AIFFA 2019 Luminary Award by Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg.
Over 100 films from 10 Asean countries competed in the nine film categories.