Vietnamese French actress Tran Nu Yen Khe, the wife of Vietnamese French movie director Tran Anh Hung, is a nominee for the Best Costume Design award with “Norwegian Wood” at the fifth Asian Film Awards, which will take place in Hong Kong in mid-March.

Tran Nu Yen Khe at the launching ceremony of “Norwegian Wood” in Vietnam last December.

The Hong Kong International Film Festival Society (HKIFFS) has announced the nominees for the fifth Asian Film Awards.

Hong Kong’s “Let the Bullets Fly” and Japan’s Confessions take the lead with six nominations each. China’s “Aftershock” will compete for four categories, including the Best Film.

“Norwegian Wood” by Tran Anh Hung won three nominations for the Best Cinematography, Best Actress (Rinko Kikuchi) and Best Costume Design.

This is the fifth movie by Tran Anh Hung and the first film in which his wife – Tran Nu Yen Khe – didn’t play the leading role but the fashion designer. With the new role, she was nominated for the Best Costume Designer.

The Asian Film Awards are presented annually by the Hong Kong International Film Festival Society to recognize excellence of film professionals in the film industries of Asian cinema.

Created to “acknowledge the finest of Asian Cinema and bestow honour in various major categories to filmmakers and artists from across Asia”, the first Asian Film Awards were given in March 2007 in Hong Kong.

Nominees are selected from a list drawn up by the Hong Kong International Film Festival Society and the Asian Film Awards jury, which is composed of various filmmakers, producers, critics, academics and other film professionals.

Last year, Vietnamese director Bui Thac Chuyen’s “Lonely” (Choi Voi) was nominated for Best Screenplay (Phan Dang Di), Best Cinematography (Ly Thai Dung) and Best Music Score (Ngoc Dai). However, the movie didn’t win any prizes.

The award ceremony will take place on March 21 at the Hong Kong Exhibition and Convention Center.

The nominees of the fifth Asian Film Award 2011

Best Film: Aftershock (China), Confessions (Japan), Let The Bullets Fly (Hong Kong), Peepli Live (India), Poetry (South Korea), Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (Thailand)

Best Director: Feng Xiaogang (Aftershock), Jiang Wen (Let The Bullets Fly), Lee Chang Dong (Poetry), Takashi Miike (13 Assassins), Na Hong Jin (The Yellow Sea) and Tetsuya Nakashima (Confessions)

Best Actor: Chow Yun-Fat (Let The Bullets Fly), Ge You (Sacrifice), Ha Jung Woo (The Yellow Sea), Ethan Ruan (Monga) and Koji Yakusho (12 Assassins)

Best Actress: Jeon Do Yeon (The Housemaid), Rinko Kikuchi (Norwegian Wood), Takaka Matsu (Confessions), Xu Fan (Aftershock) and Michelle Yeoh (Reign of Assassins)

Best Newcomer: Mark Chao Yu-Ting (Monga), Aarif Lee (Echoes of The Rainbow), Omkar das Manikpuri (Peepli Live), T.O.P. (71: Into The Fire), Zhou Dongyu (Under The Hawthorn Tree)

Best Supporting Actor: Huang Xiaoming (Sacrifice), Sammo Hung Kam-po (IP Man 2), Masaki Okada (Confessions), Ryoo Seung Bum (The Unjust) and Yu Hae Jin (Moss)

Best Supporting Actress: Yu Aoi (About Her Brother), Yoshino Kimura (Confessions), Carina Lau Kar-ling (Let The Bullets Fly), Paredes Shanty (Madame X), Youn Yuh Jung (The Housemaid)

Best Screenplay: Let The Bullets Fly (Hong Kong), Love In A Puff (Hong Kong), Poetry (South Korea), Reign of Assassins (China/Hong Kong/Taiwan), The Unjust (South Korea)

Best Cinematography: Lee Mo Gae (I Saw The Devil), Jake Pollock (Monga), Mark Lee Ping Bin (Norwegian Wood), Hassan Kydyraliyev (The Light Thief), Kenny Tse Chung To (The Stool Pigeon)

Best Production Design: 13 Assassins (Japan), Detective Dee and The Mystery of The Phantom Flame (Hong Kong/China), Madame X (Indonesia), Monga (Taiwan), The Yellow Sea (South Korea).

Best Music Score: Golden Slumber (Japan), Monga (Taiwan), Peepli Live (India), Reign of Assassins (China/Hong Kong/Taiwan), The Yellow Sea (South Korea)

Best Editing: Confessions, 13 Assassins (Japan), I Saw The Devil (South Korea), Peepli Live (India), Under The Hawthorn Tree (China)

Best Visual Effects: Aftershock (China), 71: Into The Fire (South Korea), Detective Dee and The Mystery of The Phantom Flame (Hong Kong/China), Space Battleship Yamato (Japan), The Man From Nowhere (South Korea)

Best Costume Design: Tran Nu Yen Khe (Norwegian Wood), Kazuihiro Sawataishi (13 Assassins), Bruce Yu Ka On (Detective Dee and The Mystery of The Phantom Flame), William Chang Suk Ping (Let The Bullets Fly), Choi Se Yeon (The Housemaid)

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