Zhang Yimou’s ‘Shadow’ leads Golden Horse race
The five contenders for the best film prize are ‘Shadow’, ‘Dear Ex’, mainland Chinese hit ‘Dying to Survive’, ‘Long Day’s Journey Into Night’, and ‘An Elephant Sitting Still’.
HONG KONG: Zhang Yimou’s moody, monochromatic action drama Shadow leads contenders in the annual Golden Horse Awards race. The awards, operated from Taiwan, celebrate the best films in Chineselanguage variants.
Shadow, which premiered in prestigious slots in the Venice and Toronto film festivals last month, collected 12 nominations. These included nominations for best film and for best director.
Taiwanese drama Dear Ex, about the manipulations revealed by a man’s altered will, collected the second-most nominations, with eight. The film premiered at the Udine festival in April and won several prizes at the Taipei festival in June. It is next set for festival play in Busan, and heads for commercial release next month. Dying to Survive collected seven nominations.
The five contenders for the best film prize are Shadow, Dear Ex, mainland Chinese hit Dying to Survive, Long Day’s Journey Into Night, and An Elephant Sitting Still, which premiered in Berlin after the suicide of its director, Hu Bo.
The best director nominees – all mainlanders – are Zhang ( Shadow), Bi Gan ( Long Day’s Journey Into Night), Jiang Wen ( Hidden Man), Pema Tseden ( Jinpa), and Lou Ye ( The Shadow Play).
Films with six nominations each included The Looming Storm, Hidden Man, and Elephant Sitting Still.
Debate will inevitably rage about high-profile titles that received less recognition. Jia Zhangke’s Cannes competition film, Ash Is Purest White, received only one (for best actress). Chen Kaige’s The Legend of the Demon Cat earned three, all in technical categories. Detective Dee: The Four Heavenly Kings earned only one, for best visual effects. Neither of the year’s two top- grossing Chinese films, Operation Red Sea and Detective Chinatown 2, received any nominations.
Meanwhile, film producer Bill Kong, president of Edko Films Ltd., will receive the “Icon Award” at the CineAsia Awards Ceremony in December.
“CineAsia is honoured to recognise Bill Kong,” stated Andrew Sunshine, president of The Film Expo Group, which manages CineAsia. “A true Icon, Bill Kong and his work are highly regarded across the global motion picture industry. We congratulate Bill on this well- deserved honour.”
Having gained international recognition for his work, Kong has been nominated for an Academy Award and has won numerous international awards including the BAFTA, Independent Spirit Award, Hong Kong Film Award and the Golden Horse Award for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000).