Award Central News

The two pics, which are among the biggest winners of the fall-winter season at the Asian box office, each garnered six noms and will compete for film.

Chinese helmer Jiang Wen’s “The Sun Also Rises” drew five mentions, followed by Korea’s “Secret Sunshine” and Japan’s Oscar nominee “I Just Didn’t Do It” with four each.

These five pics dominate the lists for film and director. Also in the running for film is Iran’s “Buddha Collapsed Out of Shame,” while Zhang Lu received a director nom for Korean-French pic “Desert Dream.”

Surprising by its absence from the nominations is “The Assembly,” Feng Xiaogang’s war story, which rivals “Warlords” at the Chinese B.O. Pic was the Pusan fest opener and boasts stunning tech work in its battle scenes.

Otherwise, the selection is slightly wider and fractionally less arthouse than last year.

“Tokyo Tower: Mom and Me, and Sometimes Dad,” and “Always: Sunset on Third Street 2” each drew three mentions.

Indian megahit “Om shanti om” took two noms, and arthouse pic “Frozen” received one for cinematography.