Event Coverage
Japan tops awards tally at 3rd AFA
Hong Kong: During Hong Kong’s 100th year of movie making, Japanese films walked away with awards in five of the 13 categories at the 3rd Asian Film Awards organised by the Hong Kong International Film Festival Society.
Tokyo Sonata, a story that portrays the breakdown of a Japanese family after its patriarch loses his job at a prominent company, was awarded Best film.
Tokyo Sonata also received the best screenwriter award for its screenwriter trio of Kurosawa Kiyoshi, Max Mannix and Tanaka Sachiko from Japan, The Netherlands and Hong Kong respectively.
Hirokazu won the best director award for his Still Walking, a film about a family commemorating the drowning of one of its family members.
Oscar award winning film (Best foreign language film) Departures lead star Motoki Masahiro was awarded Best Actor for his performance in the film. In the film Motoki plays a cellist who works in a funeral parlor business after his orchestra is dissolved. India’s Akhsay Kumar was among the nominees for this category for his performance in the Hindi super-hit film Singh is Kinng.
Japan’s Hisaishi Joe won the award for the best composer for his music composition for Ponyo on the Cliff. India’s AR Rahman composition for Jodha Akbar among other’s had also been nominated for this category.
Zhou Xun won the best actress award for the mainland Chinese film The Equation of Love and Death. India’s Deepika Podukone was also in the reckoning for this category for her performance in Chandni Chowk to China.
India’s Nitin Chandrasekhar was one of the nominees for best production designer award for Jodha Akbar. The award was won by Daniel Yan-kong Lee for Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of the Dragon.
The Nielsen Box Office award was conferred on India’s Priyanka Chopra. The Edward Yang New Talent Award was conferred on Taiwanese director Wei Te-Sheng. Hong Kong director Tsui Hark and his wife Shi Nansun were presented with the Outstanding Contribution to Asia Cinema award.
Awards for the other categories went to: Best Newcomer – Mainland China’s Yu Shaoqun (Forever Enthralled); Best Supporting Actor – South Korean Jung Woo-sung (The Good, the Bad, the Weird); Best Supporting Actress – Filipino Gina Pareno (Service);Best Cinematographer Europe’s Jola Dylewska (Tulpan) ; Best Editor South Korea’s Kim Sun-min (The Chaser);Best Visual Effects – Craig Hayes from the Chinese mainland (Red Cliff).
The award ceremony was held at Hong Kong yesterday. Michelle Yeoh was the president of the jury that decided the awards.
The glittering ceremony was hosted by VJ and MC Derek Li, Monaco born Hong Kong’s top model Lisa S and character actor Terence Yin. The awards ceremony was tastefully interspaced with audio visuals and performances by Justin Lo and Alan, among others.
Event Coverage
Anime India announces Amazon MX Player as co-presenting partner for Anime India Kolkata 2026
MUMBAI: Riding high on the success of its blockbuster Mumbai debut, Anime India is accelerating its nationwide expansion with the announcement of Amazon MX Player as the co-presenting partner for Anime India Kolkata. The partnership marks a significant step forward in the festival’s mission to deliver large-scale, accessible, and fan-first anime experiences across the country.
Scheduled for 14 and 15 February 2026 at the iconic Biswa Bangla Mela Prangan, Anime India Kolkata will launch the first regional chapter of what is set to be a year-long, multi-city tour. As the curtain-raiser for the 2026 circuit, the Kolkata edition aims to fuse the energy of global Japanese pop culture with India’s fast-growing community of anime, manga, and pop-culture fans.
A household name in digital entertainment, Amazon MX Player brings unmatched reach and cultural relevance to the Anime India platform. With its expanding focus on anime and youth-driven content, Amazon MX Player’s involvement as co-presenting partner reinforces Anime India’s vision of making anime culture more inclusive breaking barriers of language, geography, and accessibility to connect with fans nationwide.
Anime India Kolkata 2026 will showcase cosplay competitions, interactive zones led by the Indian Gunpla Community, India-39 Vocaloid Community, The Japan Curry, and Adda-o-Otaku by The Otaku Guild. Fans can join tournaments across fighting games, Pokémon VGC, and more. Acclaimed Japanese director Susumu Mitsunaka (Haikyu!!) will attend as guest of honour, appearing in panels and live sessions. Positioned as an immersive celebration of fan culture and industry collaboration, the Kolkata edition marks the beginning of Anime India’s nationwide expansion.
Sharing their perspective on the partnership, Amazon MX Player director Aruna Daryanani expressed, “Anime in India has evolved from a niche interest into a mainstream cultural movement, driven by an increasingly engaged and passionate fanbase. At Amazon MX Player, our focus is on expanding access by bringing anime to audiences across the country for free and in multiple local languages. Our association with Anime India reflects our commitment to supporting the growth of anime in India and deepening connections with fans, while continuing to build Amazon MX Player as a trusted destination for free, high-quality entertainment.”
“Anime India Kolkata is a celebration of how anime has grown beyond entertainment into a powerful cultural and creative force. By bringing fans, creators, and industry leaders onto one shared platform, the festival is helping define the future of pop culture in India,” said Anime India co-founder and director Neha Mehta.
The debut edition of Anime India 2025 in Mumbai attracted over 29,000 fans, quickly cementing its status as a landmark celebration of anime and Japanese pop culture. Riding on this overwhelming response, the Kolkata chapter is projected to draw more than 40,000 visitors across two days, positioning it as one of the biggest anime conventions ever held in eastern India.
Anime India is focused on bringing together fans from across the country to create a truly pan-India celebration of anime, manga, cosplay, gaming, and Japanese culture. With plans to expand into four key metropolitan hubs in 2026—east (Kolkata), north (Delhi), west (Mumbai), and south (Hyderabad)—the festival seeks to deliver globally benchmarked experiences while supporting and uplifting creators, artists, and fan communities throughout India.
