Sora Ma wins Best Supporting Actress at Asia Contents Awards for sultry hostess character in This Land Is Mine

Actress Sora Ma took home her first acting award at the fourth Asia Contents Awards ceremony held in Busan, Korea on Oct 8 at the BIFF Theatre, Busan Cinema Centre.

Ma, 38, was named Best Supporting Actress for her work in Mediacorp's English-language period drama This Land Is Mine.

She beat out fellow Asian actresses Nakamura Anne (DCU: Deep Crime Unit), Wu Yue (The Pavilion), Nakajo Ayami (Tokyo Mer: Mobile Emergency Room) and Buffy Chen (Twisted Strings).

Malaysia-born Ma, a Star Search 2010 finalist, made her mark in Singapore dramas like 2012’s Poetic Justice and 2015’s 118. She left full-time acting in 2017, taking on projects as her time allowed. Last year, she married her boyfriend of eight years, and the couple held their wedding banquet in Singapore in July this year.  

Ma was in good company at the awards ceremony as the Best Supporting Actor accolade was given to Squid Game's Park Hae-soo.

Squid Game also won the Technical Achievement Award.
Meanwhile, Extraordinary Attorney Woo got two gongs: The show was awarded Best Content, and its leading lady, Park Eun-bin, was declared Best Actress. 

The Best Actor award went to Suzuki Ryohei for his work in Mobile Emergency Room.

In her award acceptance speech, Ma thanked Mediacorp for the chance to play the character of Helen in This Land Is Mine, as well as the cast and crew for their trust in her, as it was the first time she had worked on an English-language project.

This Land Is Mine, set in a Singapore just emerging from the tumult of World War 2, is an adaptation of Walter Woon's 2013 novel The Devil's Circle, inspired by historical events. Directed by industry veteran Lee Thean-Jeen, the drama also stars Rebecca Lim, Shabir and Sugie Phua. The character of Helen is a nightclub hostess who is sultry, strong and not to be messed with.

Ma also thanked fellow cast member Pierre Png, saying he had been the best partner to work with. Png was also present at the event as he was nominated for a Best Actor award for the same drama.

In Instagram posts on Oct 9, she wrote that it was "unbelievable" to have been honoured in Busan, and that she was "grateful".

She also shared that when her name was announced as the winner, she did not register what was going on. "Without a wake up call from Pierre Png", she said, she would still have been sitting in her seat, "enjoying the whole ceremony".

The Asia Contents Awards recognises outstanding content made for television, online and over-the-top (OTT) platforms across Asia.

This Land Is Mine is available on meWATCH.