Actress Jeon Do-yeon waves after winning the Best Actress Award at the second Asian Film Awards in Hong Kong, Monday. / AFP-Yonhap

By Cathy Rose A. Garcia
Staff Reporter

The internationally acclaimed Korean film ``Secret Sunshine" (Miryang) grabbed the spotlight at the second annual Asian Film Awards in Hong Kong, picking up three top awards including Best Film.

``Secret Sunshine," which is about a young widow moving to her late husband's hometown, beat other Asian films such as the controversial thriller ``Lust, Caution," Hong Kong's ``The Sun Also Rises" and Japan's ``I Just Didn't Do It."

Actress Jeon Do-yeon won Best Actress, adding another award to her collection, which includes several Korean acting awards and the Best Actress award at the Cannes Film Festival last May. She won over Korean actress Kim Yun-jin and Chinese actress Tang Wei.

``I don't usually need time to recover from most of the roles I portray. But this time, because my character was so damaged, it took some time to recover from it,'' Jeon was quoted by the Associated Press, after winning the award.

The film's director Lee Chang-dong was named best director, besting Academy Award-winning director Ang Lee, who was nominated for ``Lust, Caution."

Hong Kong actor Tony Leung Chiu-wai won the best actor award for his role as a collaborator in ``Lust, Caution." He bested Korean actor Song Kang-ho, who was nominated for his role in ``Secret Sunshine," as well as Chinese action star Jet Li and Japanese actors Joe Odagiri and Ryo Kase.

Best supporting actress award was given to Chinese-American actress Joan Chen for ``The Sun Also Rises," while the best supporting actor award went to Sun Honglei for ``Mongol."

There were several Koreans nominated in various categories at the Asian Film Awards. Actor Chun Ho-jin was nominated as best supporting actor for his role in ``Skeletons in the Closet."

Im Sang-soo was nominated as best screenwriter for ``The Old Garden," while Shim Hyung-rae was nominated for best visual effects for his work in the blockbuster ``D-War."

Kim Yu-jeong and Lee Min-bok were nominated for best production design for ``Epitaph" (Gidam), and Lee Eun-soo was nominated as best editor for ``The Old Gaden."

The Asian Film Awards, started in 2007 by the Hong Kong International Film Festival Society, is aimed at honoring the finest of Asian cinema, filmmakers and artists.

Last year, a Korean film, ``The Host" nabbed the best film prize at the first Asian Film Awards. Actor Song Kang-ho also won best actor for his role in the hit film.

cathy@koreatimes.co.kr