Asian World Film Festival Announces Competition Winners at Distinguished Closing Night Ceremony

News provided by

Nov 24, 2025, 08:45 ET

"A Sad and Beautiful World" Takes Home Snow Leopard for Best Film, Vishal Jehtwa for Best Actor and Tandin Bidha for Best Actress

"Left-Handed Girl" Garners Snow Leopard Audience Award

"Squid Game" Actor Lee Byung Hun, "The Last Dance" Director Chan Mou Yin, Anselm, and Golden Rooster Award-winning Director Daniel Lee (Yan-Kong Lee) Among High-profile Attendees

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 24, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The 11^th annual Asian World Film Festival (AWFF) announced its jury and audience award winners at a marquee closing night ceremony last night at the Culver Theater in Culver City, California. The festival's highest honor, the Snow Leopard for Best Film, was bestowed upon "A Sad and Beautiful World" (Lebanon), directed by Cyril Aris. Vishal Jehtwa won the Snow Leopard for Best Actor for his turn in "Homebound" (India), and Tandin Bidha garnered the Snow Leopard for Best Actress for her role in "I, the Song" (Bhutan).

The Snow Leopard Special Jury Award went to "Palestine 36" (Palestine), directed by Annemarie Jacir, and the Snow Leopard Jury Discretionary Award for Best Director went to Chan Mou Yin, Anselm for "The Last Dance" (Hong Kong). "Left-Handed Girl" (Taiwan), directed by Shih-Ching Tsou, garnered the Snow Leopard Audience Award.

Three awards were presented in the Short Film competition, each paired with a special prize. The jury awarded Best Short Film to "Don't Be Late, Myra" (Pakistan), directed by Afia Serena Nathaniel. "Sheep" (Iran), directed by Hadi Babaeifar, was named first runner-up and "Before the Winter" (U.S./China), directed by Juan Zuloaga Eslait, second runner-up. The filmmakers received, respectively, a trophy and a scholarship to the New York Film Academy, a $3,000 set-rental credit from Our Home Studios, and a DCP from The DCP Company. The jury also awarded a Special Mention to "Zahra" (Jordan), directed by Hadi Shatat.

South Korean actor Lee Byung Hun ("Squid Game," "No Other Choice"); Chinese director Daniel Lee (Yan-Kong Lee) ("Three Kingdoms," "White Vengeance"); and Hong Kong director Chan Mou Yin, Anselm ("The Last Dance")—all AWFF 2025 winners—were among the entertainment luminaries from Hollywood, Asia and the Asian diaspora who walked the red carpet. They were joined by Chinese writer-director and Snow Leopard feature film jury president Binying ("Ice World") and Culver City Mayor Dan O'Brien.

"In this, our 11th year, we had the good fortune of showing works of unusual strength, clarity and craft," said Georges N. Chamchoum, AWFF executive director. "We redoubled our focus on filmmaking and the Asian film experience and were rewarded with a festival that underlined Asia's exceptional contribution to world cinema."

The event capped 10 days of film screenings representing more than 30 Asian nations and regions, including 23 official Oscar® submissions for Best International Feature Film. Forty-six feature films and 27 shorts were exhibited, including 15 features in competition for the Snow Leopard for Best Film and 14 shorts in the running for Best Short Film. Binying served as feature film jury president and South Korean filmmaker-actress Jiseung Cho as the short film jury president. Snow Leopard for Best Film award winners in previous years include "Abang Adik" (Malaysia), "Hanging Gardens" (Iraq), "The Last Film Show" (India), "Brighton 4^th" (Georgia) and "Circus of Life" (Pakistan).

The complete 11^th Annual AWFF Awards list is as follows:

AWFF Competition Winners

Snow Leopard for Best Film – "A Sad and Beautiful World" (Lebanon), Cyril Aris, director
Snow Leopard for Best Actor – Vishal Jehtwa, "Homebound" (India)
Snow Leopard for Best Actress – Tandin Bidha, "I, the Song" (Bhutan)
Snow Leopard Special Jury Award – "Palestine 36" (Palestine), Annemarie Jacir, director
Snow Leopard Jury Discretionary Award for Best Director – Chan Mou Yin, Anselm, "The Last Dance" (Hong Kong)
Snow Leopard Audience Award – "Left-Handed Girl" (Taiwan), Shih-Ching Tsou, director
Asian Vision Award – "The Summer Will End" (Russia/Yakutia), Maksim Arbugaev and Vladimir Munkuev
Best Short Film – "Don't Be Late, Myra" (Pakistan), Afia Serena Nathaniel, director
Short Film First Runner-up – "Sheep" (Iran), Hadi Babaeifar, director
Short Film Second Runner-up – "Before the Winter" (U.S./China), Juan Zuloaga Eslait, director
Short Film Special Mention – "Zahra" (Jordan), Hadi Shatat, director

AWFF Honorees (Previously Announced)

Snow Leopard Lifetime Achievement Award – Daniel Lee (Yan-Kong Lee), action and martial arts writer-director
Snow Leopard for Outstanding Cinematic Achievement (Male) – Lee Byung Hun, actor and singer
Snow Leopard for Outstanding Cinematic Achievement (Female) – Lucy Liu, American actress
Snow Leopard Rising Star – Nina Ye, Taiwanese actress
Bruce Lee Award – Michael Jai White, American actor-martial artist

Feature Film Jury

Binying (jury president) – Chinese filmmaker
Anna Chi – Chinese filmmaker
Najia Khaan – Afghan British filmmaker-actress
Joanne Goh – entertainment executive and producer, Malaysia
Said Faraj – actor, Lebanon
Woody Mu – film educator, producer and entertainment executive, China

Short Film Jury

Jiseung Cho (jury president) – South Korean writer-actress
Ghassan Abdelnour – Sound designer, Lebanon
Thet San Andersen – Myanmar artist, entrepreneur and youth advocate
Maykel Bakhoum – Egyptian director and co-founder of the Hollywood Arab Film Festival
Michelle Sun – Chinese American actress
Najia Khaan – Afghan British writer-director

The Snow Leopard Awards are presented in association with the Snow Leopard Trust to raise awareness of the endangered snow leopard and its threatened Asian mountain ecosystem. The Bruce Lee Award and Motion Arts Day are endorsed by the Bruce Lee Foundation and Shannon Lee, legendary actor Bruce Lee's daughter.

Asian World Film Festival Sponsors

Samsung Onyx; Emporium Thai; Jackson Market; New York Film Academy (NYFA); M Film Lab; Korean Cultural Center Los Angeles (KCCLA); Pechanga Resort Casino; Taiwan Creative Content Agency (TAICCA); Taiwan Academy in Los Angeles; Bruce Lee Foundation; Our Home Studios; My Personal Driver; WDA; The DCP Company

About Asian World Film Festival

Founded in 2015 by Kyrgyz public figure Sadyk Sher-Niyaz, the Asian World Film Festival celebrates cinematic excellence rooted in culture, storytelling and global collaboration. The festival brings the best of Asian cinema to Los Angeles and strengthens creative exchange between East and West. AWFF screens feature films from across Asia – from Japan to Turkey and from Russia to India and Southeast Asia. Renowned as a launchpad for awards-season contenders, AWFF remains the only Los Angeles-based festival presenting the majority of Asian submissions for the Academy Award® Best International Feature and the Golden Globe® Best Motion Picture, Non-English Language categories. AWFF is a nonprofit under Aitysh USA.

Follow AWFF on: