Singapore [8 December 2022] Korea claimed the Best Drama Series for a third consecutive year at the Asian Academy Creative Awards tonight when CJENM romantic drama “Twenty Five Twenty One” finished ahead of 16 Asia-Pac nations and territories to claim the golden “Goddess” statuette.
Netflix scored 5 outright wins including Best Feature Film for Japan’s “Akakusa Kid” and Best Actor in a Leading Role for Korea’s Jung Hae-in for his stand-out role in the military crime drama D.P.
There was plenty of drama across the evening as the Asian Academy revealed scores in close fought categories, but it went up a notch in the final award of the night. Any hope of gold for the Philippines rested on the shoulders of Emmy nominated actress Jodi Sta. Maria who was up for her role in “Broken Marriage Vow”. Jodi remained in the hunt when the finalists were reduced from 11 down to 5. As the final scores were revealed the Philippines would claim its solitary Goddess, but it will be one celebrated for years to come.
Taiwan scored both the Best Actor in a Supporting Role for Wu Kang Ren’s cross-dressing hostess in the Netflix crime drama “Light The Night” and soon followed up with a posthumous victory for Liou Yiin-Shang, who passed away in September, aged 84. Her award for the family-medical drama “Still Me” was collected on stage by her daughter.
Australia’s famed special effects outfit, Method Studios entered a 5th consecutive category win into the history books thanks to “Elvis” for Warner Bros.
Singapore raced out to a haul of 7 golds on night one of the competition but acclaimed veteran Mark Lee’s win in Best Comedy Performance would prove crucial at the Gala Final. The 8th win was just enough to edge out India for the most wins by a nation or territory.
India claimed the coveted Best Direction statuette thanks to Basil Joseph for his Netflix feature length “Minnal Murali ”. Cinematographer Shreya Dube added to the sense of achievement when she was honoured for her outstanding work on “Thar”. Thank so much, I’m honoured to represent Singapore tonight,
Australia had their best ever finish with 6 gold including two for “Eurovision – Australia Decides”. New Zealand’s Aidee Walker collected the Best Comedy Programme for “Kid Sister”.
