Wong Kar Wai Dedicates Asia Film Award to Stuntman Lost on Missing Malaysian Flight

Wong Kar Wai

Nearing tears, the Hong Kong auteur used his acceptance speech for best director at the film event in Macau to call for resolution for families of the missing victims of MH370.

Wong Kar Wai brought the 8th Asia Film Awards to an emotional conclusion in Macau Thursday night, dedicating his best director award for The Grandmaster to the film's stuntman Ju Kun, who was among passengers lost aboard Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.

Nearing tears, the director called for greater transparency and resolution for the families of those aboard the missing airliner. The Grand master's star, Zhang Ziyi, who took the best actress prize during the AFAs Thursday night, watched from the crowd in tears during the speech.

"One of our martial arts directors unfortunately is one of the victims of MH370, so here I hope the Malaysian government can try their best to address this issue by taking a more transparent attitude," said Wong, adding "let us know the truth."
Kun, who worked as a stunt double for Jet Li on Universal's co-production The Forbidden Kingdom, was scheduled to work on the Weinstein Co. and Netflix TV period drama Marco Polo at a studio in Malaysia before he boarded the flight to return to Beijing to visit his kids.
On March 8, Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 disappeared from civilian radar screens a little less than an hour after taking off from Kuala Lumpur for Beijing with 239 people on board. No confirmed sighting of the plane or its remains has been made since. The Malaysian government has since said it believes it crashed somewhere in the Indian Ocean and that all passengers should be presumed dead.
Zhang wrote on Sina Weibo that she’s hoping for a miracle. She said the missing flight was the talk of the set on her latest movie, John Woo’s The Crossing, which is concluding filming in Beijing.
Zhang described Ju as “sincere, kind and hardworking.”
Wong's The Grandmaster dominated the newly revamped Asia Film Awards Thursday night, taking seven awards, including best director, best actress, best film, best score, best composer, best costume design and best production design.