‘An Elephant Sitting Still’ wins top prize at Golden Horse
TAIPEI, TAIWAN >> “An Elephant Sitting Still” won the top prize Saturday night at the Golden Horse Awards, the Chinese-language version of the Oscars.
The film, whose director, Hu Bo, committed suicide before its release, upset the highly touted martial-arts epic “Shadow,” by veteran director Zhang Yimou. Zhang won best director for “Shadow.”
The Golden Horse Awards honor films from Taiwan, Hong Kong, mainland China and other parts of the Chinese-speaking world, transcending political, cultural and geographic borders.
Judges were led by Gong Li, the leading actress in many of Zhang’s earlier films, who was invited by Ang Lee, director of Hollywood features including “Brokeback Mountain.”
“Shadow,” which delves into Chinese martial arts and palace intrigue, led with 12 nominations.
Taiwanese stage actress Hsieh Ying-xuan won best actress for her role in “Dear Ex,” which explores the relationship between a gay man and his lover after his death.
Best actor was won by China’s Xu Zheng for his work in “Dying to Survive.”
Polish prosecutors want bail for released US cinematographer
WARSAW, POLAND >> Prosecutors in Poland are seeking to have bail set for an Oscar-nominated American cinematographer after a court ordered his release from the jail where he was held for allegedly attacking paramedics.
A spokeswoman for prosecutors in the city of Bydgoszcz, Agnieszka Adamska-Okonska, told Polish media Friday the prosecutors disagreed with the court’s decision to release Matthew Libatique without bail a day earlier.
Libatique was charged Wednesday with assaulting one of the paramedics who responded to a hotel where he was seen staggering.
He was in Poland as an honorary guest at the Camerimage international film festival. Libatique was nominated for an Academy Award for the 2010 film “Black Swan” and was the cinematographer for Bradley Cooper’s recent remake of “A Star is Born.”
The festival’s closing ceremony was Saturday evening.
Disney details new ‘Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge’ attractions
ORLANDO, FLORIDA >> “Star Wars” fans will soon be able to pilot the Millennium Falcon and face off against Kylo Ren in battle.
Disney on Saturday announced some details of the new “Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge” lands, opening in 2019. It also announced that composer John Williams, creator of the classic “Star Wars” themes, is writing new music for the “Galaxy’s Edge” attractions, and shared a sneak preview.
The two signature attractions of the “lands” now under construction will be “Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run,” in which guests can take the controls in three different roles, and “Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance,” offering an “epic battle” between the First Order and the Resistance.
The attractions are to open at Disneyland Resort in summer 2019 and at Walt Disney World Resort in the fall.
Man apologies for shouting ‘Heil Hitler’ at Baltimore show
BALTIMORE >> A man who yelled “Heil Hitler! Heil Trump!” at a theater performance of “Fiddler on the Roof” in Baltimore says he’s sorry for the outburst.
The Baltimore Sun reports that Anthony M. Derlunas II said in an interview with the newspaper that his comments were “beyond a mistake.”
The 58-year-old said he’d been drinking heavily before the show. Derlunas said the classic play set in a Jewish village in czarist Russia reminded him of President Donald Trump’s immigration policies, which prompted his outburst.
The comments sparked panic in the Hippodrome Theatre and a few dozen people began running for the exits. The scare came a few weeks after a gunman fatally shot 11 people inside a Pittsburgh synagogue.