LOS ANGELES - The film Taiwan is nominating for Best Foreign Language Film at the Academy Awards next year, "Monga," won the Best Asian Award at the Hawaii International Film Festival Tuesday.

Lee Tai-kuai, an official with the Culture Center of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Los Angeles, accepted the award on behalf of the film's producers.

The gangster movie set in Taipei's old Wanhua district was a huge local box office success when released in January, setting a single day record for a domestic film, according to the online Business Weekly.

It also helped stimulate tourism in that part of the city.

The award given at the festival was established by the Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema (NETPAC), a pan-Asian film cultural organisation involving film production professionals.

Au Revoir Taipei, a romantic comedy set in Taipei's capital city, also won a NETPAC prize at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2010.