Hong Kong: Hong Kong's film festival hopes to boost its profile with an inaugural pan-Asian awards ceremony on Tuesday that features nominees from Bollywood, Japan, South Korea, Thailand and Iran.
Up for the top acting awards are Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan (Don), Gong Li (Curse of the Golden Flower) and fellow Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi (The Banquet), Japan's Ken Watanabe (Memories of Tomorrow), veteran Hong Kong actor Andy Lau (A Battle of Wits) and Taiwan's Chang Chen (The Go Master).
South Korean pop star Rain was nominated for I Am a Cyborg, But That's OK, about the relationship between two mentally ill patients.
The problem is that many of the big stars are skipping the event, including Khan.
Despite being a major movie production hub, Hong Kong's film festival has paled in comparison to the better funded
Pusan International Film Festival in South Korea, which hosts more world premieres. Hong Kong organisers hope a star-studded awards event that draws big names from across the region will redirect the world's focus to this bustling financial capital that has seen its once-powerhouse movie industry decline in productivity.
The first Asian Film Awards encompasses an unusually diverse mix of nominees that includes some of the biggest names in Asian cinema.
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