Films from the Chinese mainland stunningly swept top honors at Taiwan's equivalent of the Oscars for Chinese-language films, Golden Horse Film Awards, on Saturday in Taipei with "The Summer Is Gone," wining best picture and Feng Xiaogang the best director.
Best feature film prize was awarded to Zhang Dalei's "The Summer Is Gone," about a boy's summer vacation in Inner Mongolia in the early 1990s against a background of shrinking jobs at state-owned companies during a time of economic reform. It also picked up a best new performer award for 10-year-old Kong Weiyi and the FIPRESCI prize awarded by a separate jury of critics.
"What should I say? I really wasn't expecting this. It's unbelievable... It's like a pilgrimage for me coming to Taipei," Zhang, director of the film, "The Summer is Gone," told the press after winning the best picture award.
Feng picked up the best director award for "I Am Not Madame Bovary" at the ceremony. Feng said the film was the closest to his artist vision and heart. Interestingly, the director also won the best actor award at last year's Golden Horse Film Awards for his impressive performance in "Mr. Six," a rare project of Feng as an actor in a feature film for the first time.
"I Am Not Madame Bovary" stars actress Fan Bingbing, who plays the role of a peasant woman who sues her ex-husband and fights China's bureaucracy for years. The film also won the audience choice award in Taipei.
"I want to thank Fan Bingbing. She is a movie star but acts in this art film without taking any pay-ment," Feng said. He hoped the Golden Horse Film Awards can award Fan so that as he said, "I hope to encourage more stars to use their influence to get the audience to go to the theaters to watch art house films."
But the Golden Horse Film Awards gave the best actress award to two lead actresses in the romantic drama "Soul Mate," which was the first time ever for this award. Zhou Dongyu and Ma Sichun played two best friends whose relationship is tested when they fall in love with the same man.
"Together we make a fantastic duo," said Ma. "I would not be me without her, and she would not be her without me."
Fan Wei, also from the Chinese mainland, beat rivals Tony Leung Kai-fai and Jacky Cheung to win the best actor for "Mr. No Problem." In the film, he played the manager of a money-losing farm in Chongqing in the 1940s. Fan said he was grateful the jury had "perceived the subtleness I brought to the character." The film also won best adapted screenplay award.
Other winners with two awards each were "Detective Chinatown" (best action choreography, best makeup/costume); "Mad World" (best new director: Wong Chun, and best supporting actress); and "Trivisa" (best original screenplay, best editing); "Crosscurrent" (best cinematography, best sound design).
The awards also paid tribute to Abbas Kiarostami, the iconic Iranian director who died earlier this year.
Going into the ceremony, local Taiwan film "Godspeed" had nominations for eight awards and was strongly favored to win in several categories. On the night it picked up only one, for art direction. Other disappointments for Taiwanese cinema included the failure of critically-acclaimed immigrant drama "The Road to Mandalay" to turn any of its six nominations into award (though its director won a compensation award -- the outstanding Taiwanese filmmaker of the year), and the failure of its foreign-language Oscar contender "Hang In There Kids" (aka "Lokah Laqi") to collect any awards.
The awards jury was headed by the veteran Hong Kong director Ann Hui. She told Taiwan media on Saturday that the jury had gone through a "life and death process" in deciding the awards.
But as mainland movies swept Taiwan awards, some internet users are questioning the jury's decision.
"Most of the 17 jurors are from Taiwan," said Wen Tien-Hsiang, executive director of the Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival Executive Committee. "We didn't discuss what region a film is coming from when voting. No matter how much we love 'The Road to Mandalay' and 'Godspeed.' the jury has made their decisions."
"Before we voted," Ann Hui added, "we stressed and agreed that we would not consider the film's nationalities, regions, and whether a film is made by a veteran or new director."
