Japanese filmmaker Hirokazu Koreeda’s masterful family drama Shoplifters won best picture at the 13th edition of the Asian Film Awards on a night when films from Japan, South Korea and China dominated proceedings.
Already winner of the Palme d’Or at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival and a nominee for best foreign-language film at this year’s Oscars, Shoplifters revolves around an impoverished household in Tokyo whose family members regularly resort to petty crime to survive. Koreeda and his lead actress, Sakura Ando, were on stage at TVB City, in Tseung Kwan O, Hong Kong, on Sunday night to receive the award.
Two recipients of honorary awards ended up getting more than they had probably bargained for.
South Korea’s Lee Chang-dong, already on hand to receive 2019’s lifetime achievement award, won best director for Burning. The slow-burning psychological drama, based loosely on a short story by Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami, was the leading contender for awards on the night, with nominations in eight categories.
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