Veteran Sri Lankan actor Mahendra Perera has won the Best Actor award at the ninth Malaysia International Film Festival for his performance in the Sri Lankan film “Riverstone”.
The award was presented at the Malaysia Golden Global Awards, which closed MIFFest 2026 on Saturday night.
It is the second international acting honour of Perera’s career. He previously won the Best Performance award at the Singapore International Film Festival.
“Riverstone” took a second acting prize at the ceremony, with Priyantha Sirikumara named Best Supporting Actor for his role in the film. Audrey Lin won Best Supporting Actress for her performance in “Girl”.
The ceremony’s highest honour, Best Film, went to Loyd Lee Choi’s “Lucky Lu”, a US–Canada co-production that beat nine other nominees. The film follows Lu Jia Cheng, played by Chang Chen, a New York delivery driver facing financial hardship as he prepares for his wife and daughter to join him from China.
Chinese action star Wu Jing received the Excellent Achievement in Film Award, and South Korean filmmaker Lee Chang-dong was also honoured with a special award.
Other winners included Singaporean film “Ah Girl”, which took the New Hope Award, and Chilean drama “The Red Hangar”, which won Best Cinematography for Diego Pequeño and Best Screenplay for Luis Emilio Guzmán. Spanish film “Sirât” claimed the Audience Choice Award.
The Malaysia Golden Global Awards is the closing highlight of MIFFest, bringing together filmmakers from around the world to recognise work across the festival programme.
