Ang Lee to Receive Praemium Imperiale – Global Bulletin

Patrick Frater
·3-min read



GRAND PRAEMIUM

Taiwan-born film director Ang Lee (“Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” “Life of Pi,” “Brokeback Mountain”) has been named as one of the five recipients of the Praemium Imperiale award of the Japan Art Association. The awards ceremony will take place in Tokyo on Nov. 19.

Each recipient will receive JPY15 million ($104,000) alongside a testimonial letter and a medal. This year’s other recipients are: Sophie Calle (painting, France); Doris Salcedo (sculpture, Colombia); Shigeru Ban (architecture, Japan); and Maria João Pires (music, Portugal/Switzerland).

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The Praemium Imperiale is the world’s largest and most prestigious art award in the five disciplines of painting, sculpture, architecture, music, and theatre/film. Now in its 35th year, it gives international recognition to the arts, much as the Nobel Prizes do to the sciences.

Previous film sector winners include Ingmar Berman, Jean-Luc Godard and Kurosawa Akira.

KIWI FIGURES

The 2024 New Zealand International Film Festival (NZIFF) has completed its marathon tour around the country. Its selection of 83 feature films and 17 shorts were attended by more than 90,000 spectators, organizers said. Josephine Stewart-Te Whiu’s feature debut and festival opener, “We Were Dangerous” topped the box office.

Among the festival highlights was a 30th anniversary screening of Peter Jackson’s “Heavenly Creatures” – a 4K restoration of his 1994 classic, presented in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. The screenings in Wellington and Auckland were attended by Jackson, co-writer Fran Walsh and production designer Grant Major, respectively.

GREAT MIND

Thai star Sapol Assawamunkong (aka ‘The Great’) has joined the cast of Season 2 of YTV’s hit Japanese series “Octo-Mind Investigator Akari Shinno,” as one of the key characters, Krit Wongratch. Represented by GMMTV, Assawamunkong has credits including “Room Alone 2” in 2015, 2019 film “Inhuman Kiss” and GMM series “Beauty Newbie.”

“Octo-Mind Investigator,” an original mystery drama series features a detective who has the extraordinary ability to see people’s emotions as colours. Season1 aired in the summer of 2022 and was a hit on linear TV and the free catch-up service, TVer.

FASHION FOR ANIME


DJ, composer and actor Steve Aoki returned to New York Fashion Week this season with DIM MAK x ONE PIECE in partnership with Toei Animation to present an immersive runway experience on Sept. 9th, at Artechhouse. The Spring/Summer 2025 collection was unveiled as part of Toei Animation’s year-long celebration of the 25th anniversary of the iconic anime series. The cartoon house called Aoki’s participation “a transformative moment for anime in the fashion world, where the bold and adventurous spirit of ‘One Piece‘ meets the cutting-edge designs of Dim Mak.”

VIETNAM MUSIC

Sony Music Entertainment Vietnam has sealed a strategic partnership with Great Entertainment, one of Vietnam’s leading music labels. As part of the agreement, Sony Music will acquire rights to distribute and market both the catalogue and frontline releases of Great Entertainment’s roster of artists. The company’s roster includes top-charting Vietnamese artists, including B Ray, Quân A.P, Masew, Khanh ICM, and Khoi Vu.

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