Starry, starry night
The inaugural Malaysia Golden Global Awards was a glitzy star-studded affair.
THE inaugural Malaysia Golden Global Awards (MGGA) held last weekend at Genting Highland’s Arena Of Stars was a glitzy affair indeed.
Held in conjunction with the first ever Malaysian International Film Festival (Miffest), international celebrities from different countries graced the event. These included Hong Kong film Mad World’s director Wong Chun, screenwriter Florence Chan, actress Elaine Jin, and actor Eric Tsang; South Korean film The Wailing actor Kwak Do-won and actress Jang So-yeon; Malaysian film Interchange director Dain Said and actor Shaheizy Sam; Taiwanese film The Road To Mandalay actress Wu Ke Xi; and Hong Kong film Happiness actress Kara Wai.
Other Hong Kong stars who glammed up for the red carpet were Miffest and MGGA advisors Gloria Yip and Tavia Yeung, as well as actors Anthony Wong, Josie Ho, and Ron Ng.
The red carpet event was hosted by Emily Poon and Chrystina Ng, while the awards ceremony was jointly hosted by news anchor Owen Yap and comedian Harith Iskander.
During the event, homegrown music stars dazzled the audience with movie-themed performances. Electric violinist Dennis Lau opened the show in style with a scorching solo piece, before Datuk Sheila Majid took the stage to wow the crowd with her signature hits Lagenda and Sinaran, as well as a tribute to Malaysia’s iconic filmmakers Tan Sri P. Ramlee and Yasmin Ahmad. Taiwanbased Victor Wong then performed a medley of classic Chinese movie themes and Hong Kong-based Malaysian singer Shila Amzah belted out Spectre theme Writing’s On The Wall and Frozen’s Let It Go.
While the performances were dazzling, theh awardsd werre still the main highlight of the night. Eight awards were given out in total, with the bbiggest award of the night – Best Film – wonn by Malaysia-Philippines film Singing In Graveeyards, which was made by Malaysian-bornn Philippines-based director Bradley Liew, wwho dedicated his win to his grandfather.
Best Director was also snagged by a Filipino filmma ker – Brillante Mendoza ( Ma’ Rosa), while Sinngapore’s Boo Junfeng ( Apprentice) woon Best New Director. Britain’s Paull Laverty won Best Screenplay for I, Daniel Bla ke; and China’s Luo Pan won Best Cinematog raphy for his work on I Am Not Madame Boovary.
The Best Actoor award went to Tsang, for his role in Mad World as a father caring for his estranged aadult son (played by Shawn Yue) who iss suffering from bipolar disorder; wh hile the best actress award was wonn by German actress Sandra Huller ffor Oscar-nominated comedy Toni Errdmann.
The panel of judges included Singaapore- based Malaysian actr ess Yeo Yann Yann, film directors Kim Dong-ho (South Korea), Anddreas Dresen (Germany), Ga rin Nugroho (Indonesia), Prrofessor Xie Fei (China), and fillm producer Yeh Jufeng (TTaiwan).
There was also an Audience Choice award, which was voted by members of the public, and won by joint Hong Kong/Bhutan production Hema Hema Sing Me A Song While I Wait. Meanwhile, 90-year-old Datuuk Lai Meng accepted the Lifetimme Achievement award and announceed that she is currently working on her b iopic titled The Legend with Malaysian ddirector Bjarne Wong.