21 Nov – Singaporean actress Hong Huifang wins Best Actress for "AJOOMMA" at the 8th Asian World Film Festival in Los Angeles! The award was announced at the closing ceremony held on 18 November, Friday evening in Los Angeles. "I am very happy for this Best Actress award from the Asian World Film Festival in Los Angeles! I would like to thank the jury members for the recognition," said Hong, who won her first film award in her almost 40 years of acting career. "I'm especially grateful to the AJOOMMA team, family and friends in Singapore for their unwavering support throughout this amazing movie journey. I love you guys!" It is noted that Chinese actress Zhou Dongyu won the same award in 2020 for her leading role in "Better Days".
"AJOOMMA" held its US Premiere on 10 November at the same festival, which ran from 9 - 18 November this year. The director He Shuming attended the festival in person where the film screenings were warmly received stateside. In Singapore, the movie has collected SGD 550,000 at the Singapore box office as of 18 November. Both Hong and He appeared in Taipei last week and participated in various activities for the Golden Horse Film Festival. The film will be released in Taiwan on 23 December. Produced by award-winning filmmaker Anthony Chen, "AJOOMMA" is the directorial debut of He Shuming, marking Hong Hui Fang's first leading role in a feature film where she co-stars with talented Korean actors including Jung Dong-Hwan, Kang Hyung-Suk, with special appearances by Yeo Jin-Goo. Local actor Shane Pow also plays a supporting role in the film. The movie is also selected as Singapore's Oscars entry in the Best International Feature Film category.