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| Golden Seagull Award AAFF 2026 Winners: Xiao Zhan Grabs Best Actor as Gezhi Town Dominates Macau Film Festival. (Credits: Yahoo HK) |
Xiao Zhan just added another heavyweight trophy to his already stacked career, and honestly, the reaction online looked less like a film discussion and more like a full-scale digital celebration. The second edition of the Asian Art Film Festival (AAFF) 2026, held in Macau from 19 to 22 May, wrapped up with a long list of winners from across Asia and beyond, but one title kept appearing over and over again: Gezhi Town. Between major acting wins, directing honours, and screenplay recognition, the film basically walked into the festival and decided it owned the place.
This year’s Golden Seagull Award 2026 leaned heavily into artistic cinema, auteur storytelling, experimental filmmaking and even AI-focused categories, showing how wildly broad Asian cinema has become. One minute the festival was honouring emotional human dramas, the next it was giving flowers to AI-generated projects. Cinema in 2026 really said “why choose one lane?”
The AI categories immediately sparked discussion after Polaotou and Yichu 1.0 both received Best AI Film honours. Some viewers praised the festival for embracing emerging technology, while others jokingly questioned whether future actors would eventually need to compete against laptops with emotional range. Still, the category drew attention, which was clearly the point.
The children’s film division also pulled strong praise as Schoolyard Sleuth and Youth Awakens won Best Children’s Film. Critics at the festival noted how youth-focused Asian cinema has become more emotionally layered in recent years instead of treating younger audiences like they only want colourful chaos and loud background music every five seconds.
For feature films, As the Water Flows and Index, Middle, Ring both secured major recognition, while Evacuation claimed one of the festival’s biggest prizes for Best Film.
The cross-border production was widely praised for balancing artistic ambition with emotional storytelling without disappearing into the kind of “festival cinema confusion” that leaves audiences pretending they understood the ending.
Vietnamese filmmaker Leon Le won Best Director for Ky Namm In, while Hong Kong veteran Clifton Ko took the same honour for Kung Fu Juniors. The split recognition reflected AAFF’s attempt to spotlight both established industry figures and newer regional voices.
The Local Chronicles category saw acting awards go to Niu Ben for Light Pursuer and Yan Yikuan for Hero Sanyuanli. Both performances were praised for grounding historical storytelling with more human and relatable emotional weight instead of turning every scene into a dramatic shouting contest.
One of the more unexpected acting wins came from Lyric Lan, who picked up Best Actor for Love Island. Online reactions were mixed at first, mostly because people assumed the title sounded like a dating reality show rather than an art-house drama. After clips circulated online, though, viewers quickly changed tone and admitted the performance was stronger than expected.
Debut feature The Earth Abides secured the Best First Feature award, while the experimental cyber-thriller God Mode: Digital Murder received the Grand Jury Artistic Award. That title alone already sounds like the kind of film that leaves viewers staring at the ceiling for two hours after the credits.
South Korean production The Old Women with The Knife claimed Best Asian Film, continuing the recent wave of Korean films receiving global acclaim for blending genre storytelling with emotional realism. Meanwhile, The Wolves Always Come at Night received the Asia-Pacific Contribution Award, recognised for its cultural impact and regional storytelling approach.
Then came the absolute domination of Gezhi Town.
Veteran director Kong Sheng won Best Director for the film, while screenwriter Lan Xiaolong secured Best Screenplay. The project continued its streak when Xiao Zhan was officially crowned Best Actor for his performance in the same drama-film production.
During his acceptance speech, Xiao Zhan thanked the production team and admitted he felt “unexpectedly nervous” hearing his name announced despite years in the industry.
He reportedly joked that the cast of Gezhi Town had spent so long filming emotional scenes together that they could probably communicate through eye contact alone by the end of production. The crowd laughed, and social media immediately clipped the moment within minutes because of course they did.
Members of the Gezhi Town cast also praised the project backstage, calling the production emotionally exhausting but rewarding. Several cast members described director Kong Sheng as extremely detail-focused, with one joking that he could probably detect a single wrong facial expression from across an entire filming set.
Another actor said the team became “a temporary dysfunctional family,” which honestly sounds like the most realistic way to describe a long drama shoot.
Elsewhere, legendary actress Sylvia Chang won Best Actor for 24 Flavours, reminding everyone once again that industry veterans continue to outperform half the field without even trying too hard. Her win became one of the most praised moments online, especially among older cinema fans who called her performance “masterclass-level”.
Chinese art feature Dear You received Best Art Film, while documentaries Never Too Late and Love Breeds Hope both earned top documentary recognition for their emotionally grounded storytelling.
Technical categories also drew attention. Raindrops on a Roof won Best Art Direction, while Sri Lankan cinematographer Prabath Roshan secured Best Cinematography for RiverStone, with critics praising the film’s visual texture and atmospheric framing.
Supporting acting honours went to Yongshik Tso for The Catshark and Feng Shaofeng for The Sun Rises on Us All. Feng’s win especially triggered conversation online, with many viewers saying the actor has quietly entered one of the strongest performance phases of his career.
Directors Guan Hu and Fei Zhenxiang also received recognition for Dongji Island, while Russian actress Yulia Peresild won Best Actress for License to Love. The international spread of winners reflected AAFF’s growing ambition to position itself as more than just a regional festival.
The final feature film honours went to The Lychee Road and Russian production Blood Type, both taking major feature awards in one of the night’s most competitive categories.
Online reactions after the ceremony were predictably chaotic in the best way possible. Fans of Xiao Zhan flooded social media platforms with congratulatory posts, celebratory edits and emotional throwback clips from his earlier career days.
Some viewers argued his win was long overdue, while others claimed Gezhi Town becoming one of the festival’s biggest winners proved the production had crossed beyond fandom popularity into serious awards territory.
There were also debates, naturally. Some netizens questioned a few category decisions, while others joked that AAFF’s trophy distribution felt like the organisers refused to let anyone leave Macau empty-handed. Still, most reactions remained positive, especially regarding the festival’s broad representation of Asian cinema styles and countries.
With AI cinema, arthouse storytelling, international collaborations and mainstream stars all sharing the same stage, the Golden Seagull Award AAFF 2026 ended up reflecting exactly how unpredictable modern Asian cinema has become.
And honestly, if this year’s winners are anything to go by, audiences are already preparing for even louder debates next year. Which winner surprised you most? And did Xiao Zhan deserve the biggest acting prize of the night?