By AFP
23 November 2024 |
1:50 pm
Two Chinese language movies about same-sex love and Covid-19 vied on Saturday for prime prizes in Taiwan’s prestigious Golden Horse Awards, which noticed the very best variety of entries from China in recent times regardless of political tensions. Beijing banned its entertainers from becoming a member of Golden Horse — dubbed the Chinese language-language “Oscars” — in 2019 after a Taiwanese director…
Two Chinese language movies about same-sex love and Covid-19 vied on Saturday for prime prizes in Taiwan’s prestigious Golden Horse Awards, which noticed the very best variety of entries from China in recent times regardless of political tensions.
Beijing banned its entertainers from becoming a member of Golden Horse — dubbed the Chinese language-language “Oscars” — in 2019 after a Taiwanese director voiced help for the island’s independence in an acceptance speech in 2018.
China claims Taiwan as a part of its territory, which the Taipei authorities rejects, and Chinese language A-listers and massive industrial productions have largely averted the occasion ever since.
Regardless of the sensitivity of the awards, greater than 200 Chinese language movies entered this 12 months’s competitors, which Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) stated was the very best quantity in “current years”.
These movies “might not be capable of be screened in mainland China, however they nonetheless hope to have a free platform to take part and categorical themselves,” MAC spokesman Liang Wen-chieh advised reporters forward of the awards.
“We welcome (them) very a lot,” he stated.
The 2 Chinese language movies seen as favourites for greatest director and greatest image awards — “Bel Ami” and “An Unfinished Movie” — sort out delicate topics and haven’t been launched in China.
Similar-sex drama “Bel Ami” has eight nominations whereas docu-drama “An Unfinished Movie”, which is about throughout China’s lockdown of Wuhan within the earliest phases of the Covid-19 pandemic, has three.
– ‘Work of conscience’ –
After a number of years absence, Chinese language stars started trickling again to the awards in Taipei final 12 months, with actress Hu Ling the primary to grace the pink carpet for the reason that ban.
On Saturday, “Bel-Ami” director Geng Jun joined stars from the area, together with Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore, on the pink carpet on the Taipei Music Middle.
“An Unfinished Movie” director Lou Ye was absent.
Geng stated he hoped “to take each single award” for which his movie was nominated.
Regardless of political tensions, Golden Horse remained a stage for impartial Chinese language movies that don’t have any distribution house on the mainland, Taiwanese movie critic Surprise Weng advised AFP.
“This spirit stays unchanged. I believe the Golden Horse Awards have all the time insisted on being the benchmark” that’s open to all topics, stated Weng, who’s a board member of Taiwan Movie Critics Society.
Weng stated “An Unfinished Movie” by Lou, who has beforehand taken on forbidden topics equivalent to homosexual intercourse and the 1989 Tiananmen protests, was “a piece of conscience” and tipped it to win each the perfect image and greatest director awards.
Lou’s newest providing is a few movie crew attempting to renew taking pictures a film throughout the Covid-19 pandemic in Wuhan, as town was positioned in an unprecedented lockdown.
“Lou put photos which might be banned or blocked into his work and reminds us that there’s a director who’s prepared to protect historic photos for us to see… and tell us there’s a totally different voice,” Weng stated.
Taiwanese horror comedy “Lifeless Skills Society” directed by John Hsu led the nominations with 11 nods, together with greatest image and greatest director.
