The martial-arts drama “The Assassin” took top honors at the 10th Asian Film Awards on Thursday, winning eight prizes including best film, director and actress.

Taiwan director Hou Hsiao-hsien’s sword-play art-house film stars actress Shu Qi as an expert assassin in 9th-century China. The film also won awards for best supporting actress (Zhou Yun), cinematography (Mark Lee Ping-bing), production design, original music and sound.

South Korean actor Lee Byung-hun won best actor for the political thriller “Inside Men,” while Chinese filmmaker Jia Zhangke won best screenplay for “Mountains May Depart,” a striking drama looking at societal changes in modern China over 25 years.

The AFA also presented lifetime achievement awards to Hong Kong action choreographer-director Yuen Wo-ping and Japanese actress Kirin Kiki. 

Hong Kong director Johnnie To was president of this year’s jury, which included two celebrity jurors — actor Sean Lau Ching-wan from Hong Kong and actress Gao Yuanyuan from mainland China — 12 film industry professionals, festival programmers and critics from around the world.

The Asian Film Awards are organized Asia’s major film festivals: The Hong Kong International Film Festival, the Busan International Film Festival and the Tokyo International Film Festival.

This year’s total 77 nominees among 36 films from nine countries competed in 15 categories. The awards ceremony was held at the Venetian hotel in Macau.

The full list of nominees and winners:

Best Film

• “Mountains May Depart” (France/Japan/Mainland China)
• “The Assassin” (Hong Kong/Mainland China/Taiwan)  – WINNER
• “Bajirao Mastani” (India)
• “The Lunchbox” (India)
• “Three Stories of Love” (Japan)
• “Mr. Six ” (Mainland China)
• “Veteran” (South Korea)

Best Director

• Jia Zhangke, “Mountains May Depart” (France/Japan/Mainland China)
• Hou Hsiao-hsien, “The Assassin” (Hong Kong/Mainland China/Taiwan)  – WINNER
• Hirokazu Koreeda, “Our Little Sister” (Japan)
• Guan Hu, “Mr. Six ” (Mainland China)
• Ryoo Seung-wan, “Veteran” (South Korea)

Best Actor

• Donnie Yen, “Ip Man 3” (Hong Kong)
• Masatoshi Nagase, “An” (France/Germany/Japan)
• Feng Xiaogang, “Mr. Six” (Mainland China)
• Lee Byung-hun, “Inside Men” (South Korea) – WINNER
• John Arcilla, “Heneral Luna” (The Philippines)

Best Actress

• Zhao Tao, “Mountains May Depart” (France/Japan/Mainland China)
• Shu Qi, “The Assassin” (Hong Kong/Mainland China/Taiwan)  – WINNER
• Haruka Ayase, “Our Little Sister” (Japan)
• Kim Hye-soo, “Coin Locker Girl” (South Korea)
• Karena Lam, “Zinnia Flower” (Taiwan)

Best Newcomer

• Vicky Kaushal, “Masaan” (France/India)
• Jesse Li, “Port of Call” (Hong Kong) – WINNER
• Ryoko Fujino, “Solomon’s Perjury, Solomon’s Perjury 2” (Japan)
• Kim Seol-hyun, “Gangnam Blues” (South Korea)
• Lee Hong-chi, “Thanatos, Drunk” (Taiwan)
• Waruntorn Paonil, “Snap” (Thailand)

Best Supporting Actor

• Max Zhang, “Ip Man 3” (Hong Kong)
• Michael Ning, “Port of Call” (Hong Kong)
• Tadanobu Asano, “Journey to the Shore” (France/Japan) – WINNER
• Oh Dal-soo, “Assassination” (South Korea)
• Cheng Jen-shuo, “Thanatos, Drunk” (Taiwan)

Best Supporting Actress

• Zhou Yun, “The Assassin” (Hong Kong/Mainland China/Taiwan) – WINNER
• Anna Tsuchiya, “Gonin Saga” (Japan)
• Cherry Ngan, “Mojin – The Lost Legend” (Mainland China)
• Juri Ueno, “The Beauty Inside” (South Korea)
• Park So-dam, “The Priests” (South Korea)

Best Screenplay

• Jia Zhangke, “Mountains May Depart” (France/Japan/Mainland China) – WINNER
• Philip Yung, “Port of Call” (Hong Kong)
• Vishal Bhardwaj, “Talvar” (India)
• Takashi Ujita, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, “Journey to the Shore” (France/Japan)
• Ryoo Seung-wan, “Veteran” (South Korea)

Best Cinematography

• Christopher Doyle, “Port of Call” (Hong Kong)
• Mark Lee Ping-bing, “The Assassin” (Hong Kong/Mainland China/Taiwan)  – WINNER
• Yasushi Sasakibara, Yoshiaki Yamamoto, “Gonin Saga” (Japan)
• Luo Pan, “Mr. Six” (Mainland China)
• Kim Woo-hyung, “Assassination” (South Korea)

Best Production Design

• Ken Mak, “Ip Man 3” (Hong Kong)
• Hwarng Wern-ying, “The Assassin” (Hong Kong/Mainland China/Taiwan)  – WINNER
• Tetsuo Harada, “Kakekomi” (Japan)
• Cho Hwa-sung, “Inside Men” (South Korea)
• Benjamin Padero, Carlo Tabije, “Heneral Luna” (The Philippines)

Best Original Music

• Lim Giong, “The Assassin” (Hong Kong/Mainland China/Taiwan)  – WINNER
• Sanjay Leela Bhansali, “Bajirao Mastani” (India)
• Amit Trivedi, “Bombay Velvet” (India)
• Naoko Eto, Yoshihide Otomo, “Journey to the Shore” (France/Japan)
• BANG Joon-seok, “The Throne” (South Korea)

Best Editing

• William Chang, Chu Ka-yat, Liao Ching-sung, Wong Hoi, Philip Yung, “Port of Call” (Hong Kong) – WINNER
• Rajesh Pandey, “Bajirao Mastani” (India)
• Yasuyuki Ozeki, “Bakuman” (Japan)
• Tu Yiran, “Jian Bing Man” (Mainland China)
• Kim Jae-bum, Kim Sang-beom, “Veteran” (South Korea)

Best Visual Effects

• Ellen Poon, Jason H. Snell, Tang Bingbing, “Monster Hunt” (Hong Kong/Mainland China)
• Srinivas Mohan, “Baahubali: The Beginning” (India)
• Prasad Sutar, “Bajirao Mastani” (India) – WINNER
• Katsuro Onoue, “Attack on Titan” (Japan)
• Cho Yong-seok, Choi Jae-cheon, Lee Jeon-hyoung, “The Tiger” (South Korea)

Best Costume Design

• Hwarng Wern-ying, “The Assassin” (Hong Kong/Mainland China/Taiwan)
• Maxima Basu, Anju Modi, “Bajirao Mastani” (India)
• Masae Miyamoto, “Kakekomi” (Japan)
• Lee Ji-yeon, Shim Hyun-seob, “The Throne” (South Korea) – WINNER
• Carlo Tabije, “Heneral Luna” (The Philippines)

Best Sound

• Lee George Yiu-keung, Kinson Tsang, Yiu Chun-hin, “Monster Hunt” (Hong Kong/Mainland China)
• Chu Shih-yi, Tu Duu-chih, Wu Shu-yao, “The Assassin” (Hong Kong/Mainland China/Taiwan)  – WINNER
• Shinji Watanabe, “Bakuman” (Japan)
• Toru Nishiyama, “The Inerasable” (Japan)
• Kim Suk-won, Park Joo-gang, “Assassination” (South Korea)