Shamaine & Eugene winners in HK Filmfest

Hong Kong — Two highly-acclaimed Filipina actresses won in the Sixth Asian Film Awards held in this city the other night.

Shamaine Buencamino was named Best Supporting Actress for Niño during the awards night at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center.

Shamaine dedicated her award to her family and to the Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival which also named her Best Supporting Actress for Niño last year.

“Our film Niño is about family. I felt that I gave up acting for my family, when I had four children. I recently came back. Thank you to the love of my life, my husband, for being my lucky charm,” Shamaine said.

“I dedicate this to our Cinemalaya Festival. I hope it continues to make films that we can be proud of,” she added.

Shamaine bested four other actresses from the region, namely Gwei Lun-mei for The Flying Swords of Dragon Gate (Hong Kong/Mainland China); Cris Horwang, Headshot (Thailand); Mitsushima Hikari, Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai (Japan); and Yan Ni, 11 Flowers (Mainland China/France).

With the most public votes, Eugene Domingo won the People’s Choice Award: My Favorite Actress. She earned a nomination for Best Actress for Ang Babae sa Septic Tank (The Woman in the Septic Tank). Eugene brought the house down with her antics. Even before she accepted the trophy, she put out her iPhone to have a photo with Hong Kong’s popular actor Andy Lau who also won the People’s Choice Award. “You can wait. I waited 25 years for this,” she told the audience.

Eugene Domingo gets a kiss and a photo op with Hong Kong star Andy Lau

Eugene also asked Andy to kiss her — a request which the actor gamely granted to the crowd’s delight. “My name is Eugene Domingo. Yes, I am famous. Please tweet this right now — I’m with Andy Lau. Oh my God! Let’s make a movie,” Eugene said. Getting on the serious mode, she offered her award to the country. “This award is not for me because before becoming an actor, I am a Filipino first. This is for my country — the Philippines. Mabuhay!”

Hong Kong’s Deanie Ip won Best Actress for A Simple Life. Aside from Shamaine and Eugene, Chris Martinez was also nominated for Best Screenwriter for Ang Babae sa Septic Tank.

Asghar Farhadi won the Best Screenwriter and Best Director for Nader and Simin, A Separation (Iran). The movie about the gripping moral and social drama in Iran also won Best Film and Best Editor for Hayedeh Safiyari.

Now on its sixth year, the Asian Film Awards seeks to highlight the best in Asian cinema to the world, and to promote Asian film culture both regionally and internationally. The annual Asian Film Awards is one of the Opening Gala events of Entertainment Expo Hong Kong; and coincides with the two other flagship events of the Hong Kong International Film Festival Society, namely, the 36th Hong Kong International Film Festival, and the 10th Hong Kong-Asia Film Financing Forum.