THE casino punters in Macau must be envying Anthony Chen as his debut feature, Ilo Ilo, continued its winning streak at the 56th Asia Pacific Film Festival (APFF) with Yeo Yann Yann taking home the Best Supporting Actress prize.

Held at the sprawling Venetian Macau Resort Hotel last Sunday, the awards ceremony capped the three-day boutique film festival organised by the Federation of Motion Picture Producers in the Asia-Pacific. The star-studded event - hosted by the former Portuguese colony for the second consecutive year - featured celebrities like Andy Lau, whose latest action blockbuster Firestorm was the opening film, and the likes of Nick Cheung, Anita Yuen, Fiona Sit and Zhang Ziyi, who scooped the Best Actress prize for her role in The Grandmaster.

The awards show was televised "live" to about 30 countries and had a surprisingly strong Singapore presence. Comedian Mark Lee co-hosted the event while Chen, Jack Neo and Christopher Lee all came on to present awards during the course of the evening.