Although he didn’t walk away with the Best Newcomer title at the 2014 Asian Film Awards (AFA) in Macau, Keita Ninomiya (二宮慶多) won a lot of hearts as the youngest red carpet attendee. The seven-year-old spent most of his time waving to spectators, pausing only to greet everyone with a “hello” in Japanese and sign his name alongside many other stars’ on the AFA plaque.
Ninomiya was nominated for his role in “Like Father, Like Son” (そして父になる), in which he plays the biological son to fellow nominee (Best Actor) Masaharu Fukuyama’s character – but is actually being raised by another family due to a hospital mix-up. While the film went away empty-handed in Macau, last year in Cannes it was nominated for the Palme D’Or and won the Jury Prize, the first Japanese movie since 1987 to do so.
Video: Keita Ninomiya (二宮慶多) – 2014 Asian Film Awards
video by Yuan-Kwan Chan / Meniscus Magazine
