LOS ANGELES -- (SPW) --

The 5th annual Asian World Film Festival has selected over 25 films that have qualified for Best International Feature Film competition at one or both of Hollywood’s major award events, the Academy Awards and the Golden Globes.

In addition to the closing night film Weathering With You, Japan’s official submission,  many other films with Academy Award entry status in the International Feature Film category will be shown including the widely acclaimed film from South Korea, Parasite. Additional films include Life of Music from Cambodia, M for Malaysia from Malaysia, Murine from Lebanon, Shindisi from Georgia, Ne Zhu from China, Gully Boy from India, Furie from Vietnam, Commitment from Turkey, Finding Farideh from Iran, Laal Kabootar from Pakistan, Memories Of My Body from Indonesia, Aurora from Kyrgyzstan, Lengthy Night from Armenia, and The Golden Throne from Kazakhstan. 

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) submitted films include Meido from China, The Bull from Russia, Hot Bread from Uzbekistan (also for Academy Awards), The Secret of a Leader from Kazakhstan and Shyrakshy: Guardian of the Light  from Kazakhstan. 

The festival also announced actress Tiffany Chu will receive the Snow Leopard Rising Star Award on opening night. Fluent in both English and Mandarin, she was crowned the 2015 Miss Taiwanese American Pageant 1st Princess. Chu plays Sophie in Artificial (Twitch's first ever original and interactive show) and also starred as the lead in MS. PURPLE, a movie (dir. by Justin Chon) that premiered at 2019 Sundance Film Festival.

Chu stated, “I am so honored to receive this award. Thankful for my parents continued encouragement to pursue my dreams as an actor, and so grateful for the support of the Asian World Film Festival.”

As previously announced, Just Mercy (USA) will be shown as this year’s AWFF opening night film. The film will be screened at the Culver City Arclight Cinema on November 6th following an opening night ceremony hosted by Ms. Dominique DiPrima, (Host of the early morning Los Angeles talk radio show The Front Page on radio station KJLH 102.3-FM). 

Tickets to all films and industry panels are available here.

About THE ASIAN WORLD FILM FESTIVAL, NOVEMBER 6 – 14, 2019
The Asian World Film Festival (AWFF), founded by Kyrgyz public figure Sadyk Sher-Niyaz, brings the best of a broad selection of Asian World cinema to Los Angeles to draw greater recognition to the region's wealth of filmmakers and strengthen ties between the Asian and Hollywood film industries. Uniting through cross-cultural collaboration, the Festival champions films from over 50 countries across Asia, spanning from Turkey to Japan and from Russia to India and the Middle East.  All films that participate in the Festival will have a unique chance to be guided through the challenging awards season, and showcased to members of the Motion Picture Academy, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and all Guilds for enhanced exposure, media attention and awards consideration. AWFF is a non-profit organization under Aitysh USA.

AWFF is partnered with The Snow Leopard Trust to raise awareness for the endangered snow leopard and its ecosystem in the high mountains of Asia. The Film Festival’s main cinematic award is named after the snow leopard. 

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