Singapore, France major winners at Golden Horse Film Festival

Published on November 23, 2013 in FilmBizAsia

In a major surprise, Singapore's Ilo Ilo has won Best Feature at the 50th Golden Horse Awards 金馬獎, held at the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall in Taipei.

Presenting the award, jury president Ang Lee said that there were four rounds of voting over two hours to decide the main prize. It was the first award that was decided by the jury at the start of deliberations.

It is only the second time that a debut director has won the top prize. In 1996, JIANG Wen 姜文 won for In the Heat of the Sun 陽光燦爛的日子 (1995).

Wong Kar-wai's The Grandmaster won six awards, the most of the evening, including recognition for actress Zhang Ziyi, cinematographer Philippe Le Sourd, VFX supervisor Pierre Buffin and production designer William Chang.

Winning Best Actress, Zhang described her role in the film as a "long and suffering journey". It was the first time she had attended the ceremony and the first time she has won despite three previous nominations.

France and Singapore were major winners of the evening.

French film-makers secured several early prizes, with recognition for Matthieu Laclau's editing of A Touch of Sin, Le Sourd's cinematography on The Grandmaster and Buffin's visual effects work on Wong's martial arts film.

HU Wei 胡偉, the director of Best Short winner Butter Lamp, studied in France. The 16-minute film, which premiered in the International Critics' Week section of this year's Cannes Film Festival, is a France-China co-production.

Four of the Best Feature nominees are represented by French sales companies: Ilo Ilo by Memento Films International, A Touch of Sin by mk2 Group, The Grandmaster by Wild Bunch and Stray Dogs by Urban Distribution International.

Winning Best Director for French co-production Stray Dogs, Tsai Ming-liang said, "Everyone knows that I have a messy past with the Golden Horse Awards. They don't like me very much. And I don't like them very much either."

Tsai did praise the Awards for recognising a Malaysian director. Seven years ago, he withdrew I Don't Want to Sleep Alone 黑眼圈 (2006) as the co-opening film of the Golden Horse Film Festival after it failed to receive many nominations at the Awards.

Tsai had offered to share his award with Lee Kang-sheng if his regular collaborator didn't win Best Actor, noting how much his actors suffered in their roles. In one of the most competitive categories of the evening, Lee did secure the acting award.

Winning Best New Director for Ilo Ilo, Singapore's Anthony Chen (pictured) said that his film would not exist without the inspiration of Taiwan New Cinema, calling out Hou Hsiao-hsien, Edward Yang and Ang Lee.

The multiple awards for Ilo Ilo represents Singapore's greatest success at the event. Chen also won Best Original Screenplay for his family drama. Malaysia's Yeo Yann Yann won Best Supporting Actress for her role as the mother.

Singapore's first win was ten years ago for actress Megan ZHENG 鄭智允 in Homerun 跑吧！孩子！ (2003). Two years ago, composer Ricky HO 何國杰 won Best Original Film Score for Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale 賽德克・巴萊 (2011).

Receiving the Outstanding Taiwanese Filmmaker of the Year award, local producer Yeh Ju-feng thanked producers Peggy Chiao and Hsu Li-kong for helping her at the start of her career, the post-production facilities in Taiwan and her partner Cho Li.

Tu Duu-chih, receiving the best editing prize for Chung Mong-hong's Soul, said, "I really wanted to keep this award in Taiwan." He was also nominated, together with Kuo Li-chi, in the category for Tsai Ming-liang's Stray Dogs.

It is Hou's final year as chairman of the Awards. His successor is to be announced at the closing party after the awards.

Taiwan Golden Horse Film Awards List 1962-2013 (TXT, in Simplified Chinese)

Taiwan Golden Horse Film Awards List 1962-2013 (TXT, in Traditional Chinese)

50TH GOLDEN HORSE AWARDS

Best Feature Film: Ilo Ilo 爸媽不在家
Best Director: TSAI Ming-liang 蔡明亮; Stray Dogs 郊遊
Best New Director: Anthony CHEN 陳哲藝; Ilo Ilo
Best Leading Actor: LEE Kang-sheng 李康生; Stray Dogs
Best Leading Actress: ZHANG Ziyi 章子怡; The Grandmaster
Best Supporting Actor: LI Xuejian 李雪健; Back to 1942 一九四二
Best Supporting Actress: YEO Yann Yann 楊雁雁; Ilo Ilo
Best New Performer: KUO Shu-yao 郭書瑤; Step Back to Glory 志氣
Best Cinematography: Philippe LE SOURD; The Grandmaster 一代宗師
Best Original Screenplay: Anthony Chen, Ilo Ilo
Best Adapted Screenplay: LI Qiang 李檣; So Young 致我們終將逝去的青春
Best Visual Effects: Pierre BUFFIN; The Grandmaster
Best Action Choreography: Jackie CHAN 成龍, HE Jun 何鈞, JC Stunt Team 成家班; CZ12 十二生肖
Best Art Direction: William CHANG 張叔平, Alfred YAU 邱偉明; The Grandmaster
Best Makeup & Costume Design: William Chang; The Grandmaster
Best Original Film Score: LIM Giong 林強; A Touch of Sin 天注定
Best Original Film Song: Rock Me to the Moon 一首搖滾上月球
Best Film Editing: Matthieu LACLAU, LIN Xudong 林旭東; A Touch of Sin
Best Sound Effects: TU Duu-chih 杜篤之, KUO Li-chi 郭禮杞; Soul 失魂
Best Documentary: Beyond Beauty: Taiwan from Above 看見台灣
Best Short Film: Butter Lamp 酥油燈
Outstanding Taiwanese Filmmaker of the Year: YEH Ju-feng 葉如芬
Lifetime Achievement Award: CHEN Chen 甄珍
Audience Award: The Grandmaster

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