‘Parasite’ Among Australian Academy’s 2019 Best Asian Film Nominees

The 2019 nominees for the Best Asian Film award, presented by the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA), have been revealed, with nine titles up for the prize including Bong Joon-Ho’s Cannes winner Parasite.

Also on the list are three Indian features: Zoya Akhtar’s Gully Boy, which is India’s submission to the 2020 International Feature Film Oscar race, Thiagarajan Kumararaja’s Super Deluxe, and Sriram Raghavan’s Andhadhun.

Joining them are three nominees from China: Jiao Zi’s Ne Zha, the country’s Oscar entry this year, Zhang Yimou’s Shadow, and Frant Gwo’s The Wandering Earth.

Completing the list are Cathy Garcia-Molina’s Hello Love Goodbye (Philippines) and Makoto Nagahisa’s We Are Little Zombies (Japan).

Parasite scooped Cannes’ Palme d’Or back in May and has been causing box office waves around the globe, grossing more than $100m to date, including $70m in its native South Korea and a $376,264 debut in the U.S. over the weekend via distributor Neon, a result that broke the per-screen record for an international title stateside. The film is also South Korea’s entry to next year’s International Oscar pool.

Russell Crowe will serve as president of the 2019 Best Asian Film Grand Jury and will be joined by Australian director and producer Paul Currie, Finnish director, producer and screenwriter Renny Harlin, Japanese producer Adam Torel, Indian actress Tannishtha Chatterjee, Indian director, producer and writer Anurag Kashyap, Chinese producer Virginia Lok, and Chinese actress Chloe Maayan.

The winner will be announced at the 2019 AACTA Awards ceremony in Sydney on December 4, 2019.