Asian Film Awards 2025 nominations in full: Exhuma, Twilight of the Warriors lead the pack

Both movies are up for best picture at the 18th Asian Film Awards, as are All We Imagine as Light, Black Dog and Teki Cometh

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Kim Go-eun in a still from Korean box-office smash Exhuma, which leads the field at this year’s Asian Film Awards with 11 nominations.

Published: 5:57pm, 10 Jan 2025Updated: 6:22pm, 10 Jan 2025

Korean supernatural thriller Exhuma leads the field at the 18th Asian Film Awards with 11 nominations, followed by nine nods for the Hong Kong martial arts blockbuster Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In, the organisers announced on January 10.

A mega hit at the Korean box office, Exhuma, by director Jang Jae-hyun, is a compelling tale of religion and ritual that features some of the country’s most popular performers – namely Choi Min-sik, Kim Go-eun and Lee Do-hyun – all of whom are in contention for acting prizes.

The film is also nominated in the best picture, best director and best screenplay categories, among others.

Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In, which is nominated for best picture but misses out on nominations for other top prizes, is currently the third highest-grossing local film in Hong Kong cinema history. The action spectacle set in the fabled Kowloon Walled City is instead recognised in every single technical category.

(From left) Terrance Lau Chun-him, Louis Koo Tin-lok and Philip Ng Wan-lung in a still from Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In.

Rounding out the best picture race are: All We Imagine as Light, Indian filmmaker Payal Kapadia’s acclaimed portrait of urban migration in Mumbai; Black Dog, Chinese director Guan Hu’s Un Certain Regard winner at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival; and Teki Cometh, the black-and-white Japanese drama that won big at the Tokyo International Film Festival.

Apart from Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In, other Hong Kong films with nominations include Papa (three nods, including a best actor nomination for Lau Ching-wan), The Last Dance (three, with Michael Hui Koon-man up for best actor) and All Shall Be Well (Maggie Li Lin-lin for best supporting actress).