[Above: From left, director Sona Jain, film still from For Real, film still from Looking For Anne, director Takako Miyahira.]

THE Asian Festival of First Films (AFFF), a festival celebrating first-time filmmakers, announced the winners of various categories on last Friday at the Raffles Hotel Ballroom.

Top awards for Best Film and Best Director went to Japanese film, Looking For Anne, directed by Takako Miyahira. The film is a story of a 17-year-old Japanese girl on a secret mission to find her recently deceased grandmother's first love.

First-time producer, Sona Jain, bagged a total of four awards - Best Screenplay, Best Producer, Best Actor and Best Actress - for her film which took eight years to complete. Titled For Real, Sona's film is a story of a family seen through the eyes of a child.

This is the fifth time the film event is being held.

At the glittering awards dinner, the various awards were presented by personalities such as local comedian Hossan Leong and singer-songwriter celebrity Dick Lee, as well as other guests.

Takako Miyahira receiving her award.

Besides the nominees who flew in to Singapore to attend the gala dinner, an international jury made up of acclaimed personalities also attended the festival and spent hours reviewing the works of more than 30 nominee-hopefuls from all over Asia-Pacific and the Middle East. Four Singaporean nominees were also in the list.

Jury members included notable names from the film making industry: film producer of blockbusters Superman Returns and SWAT, Mr Chris Lee from Hawaii, award-winning filmmakers and internationally-acclaimed producer Ms Ana Kokkinos from Australia, and multi-award winner Mr Kabir Khan from India.