Hollywood
Mikey McCleary bags best composer award for ‘Margarita, With a Straw’ at AFA
NEW DELHI: Although India dominated the Asian Film Awards nominations with three Indian films shortlisted for seven awards, it managed to walk away with just one award: Mikey McCleary got the best composer award for Margarita, With a Straw.
Korean talent received rounds of applause at a lavish ceremony in Macau, but the biggest prizes at the Awards went to the Chinese.
The Best film went to Lou Ye’s Blind Massage, while Ann Hui was named as best director for The Golden Era.
The biggest cheers of the evening, however, went to the veteran Korean director Im Kwon-taek, who collected a lifetime achievement award.
The event had been transferred from Hong Kong to Macau last year for the first time, and it is the second year the awards have been organized and presented as a joint effort by three film festivals — Hong Kong, Busan and Tokyo.
A total of 42 Asian films competed for 14 categories.
From India, Haider had four nominations: Best Film, Best Director Vishal Bhardwaj, Best Supporting Actress Tabu, and Best Production Design.
Kalki Koechlin was also nominated for her performance in Margarita, With a Straw.
Court, which got the best National Film Award this year was nominated for director Chaitanya Tamhane’s screenplay.
Im Kwon-taek is the longest-working director in South Korea, and has directed 102 films since 1962. His latest film Revivre screened at the Hong Kong International Film Festival earlier this month.
Past recipients of the AFA’s Lifetime Achievement Award include Amitabh Bachchan, Ann Hui and Raymond Chow.
Im Kwon-taek (born May 2, 1936) is one of South Korea’s most renowned film directors. As of spring 2013, he has directed 101 films.
Hollywood
Iger’s final act: Disney boss wraps up epic saga with a new captain at the helm
After 15 turbulent years, two stints in the c-suite, and billions spent on blockbuster acquisitions, Bob Iger is stepping away from the Magic Kingdom.
CALIFORNIA: The 75-year-old chief, hailed as one of the most transformative leaders in modern media, officially hands over to former parks chief Josh D’Amaro on 18 March. And this time, he’s getting the succession right.
Iger’s legacy glitters with big bets and epic wins: the $7.4bn Pixar buy, $4bn Marvel swoop, and the colossal $71bn 21st Century Fox deal. He dragged Disney into the streaming age, fought off activist investor Nelson Peltz, and saw off a political scrap with Florida governor Ron DeSantis.
But it hasn’t all been pixie dust. The forced return of Iger in 2022—after the short, shaky reign of successor Bob Chapek—tarnished an otherwise stellar run.
Now, D’Amaro takes the wheel with a streamlined leadership team and Disney firing on all cylinders. The firm’s streaming business is in the black, theme-park attendance is soaring, and five global films have hit $1billion at the box office in the past two years. Not bad for a firm that was on the ropes just months ago.
D’Amaro’s first move? A slick reorg under new president and chief creative officer Dana Walden, folding film, tv, streaming and gaming into one punchy unit. Sean Shoptaw, heading up the gaming division, now reports directly to Walden—bringing Fortnite and Epic Games collaborations closer to Disney’s creative heart.
Iger isn’t sailing off into the sunset just yet. He’ll keep busy with Angel City FC, the women’s football club he owns with his wife. And as Ann Mooney Murphy of Stevens Institute predicts: “A guy like that never truly retires.”
One era ends. Another begins. And the House of Mouse bets big on a future beyond the king.
