Golden Horse Ma Yingli

Source: Golden Horse Film Festival

‘An Unfinished Film’ producer Ma Yingli (centre)

Lou Ye’s Wuhan-set Covid drama An Unfinished Film took top honours at the 61st Golden Horse Awards, winning both best film and best director, while fellow mainland Chinese director Geng Jun’s LGBTQ+ black comedy Bel Ami won a hat-trick of prizes including best actor.

John Hsu’s Taiwanese supernatural comedy Dead Talents Society, which led the nominations with 11 nods, snatched the most prizes, walking away with five awards mostly in the technical categories.

Scroll down for full list of winners

The best narrative feature award for An Unfinished Film was presented by Golden Horse Awards chairman, renowned DoP Mark Lee Ping-bing and Hong Kong New Wave director Patrick Tam. As director Lou is currently at Tokyo Filmex undertaking jury duties, his producer wife Ma Yingli accepted the prize along with a representative from France’s Coproduction Office.

Ma said on stage: “It’s not a normal production, but it’s the happiest and the most special for Lou Ye.” She also took the opportunity to announce that the film will be released in Taiwan on December 20. The film premiered at Cannes’ Special Screenings in May.

It is the second consecutive film by a mainland Chinese director to be named best film, following last year’s winner Stonewalling by husband-and-wife team Huang Ji and Ryuji Otsuka.

Mainland Chinese actor Zhang Zhiyong was named best actor for his performance as a middle-aged gay man. He was absent from the awards ceremony, which was held on November 23 at the Taipei Music Center for the first time, due to his filming schedule. Director Geng accepted the prize on his behalf from Oscar-winning best supporting actor Ke Huy Quan.

Geng said on stage that he and Zhang were childhood friends and how an accident has left Zhang partially disabled but that did not stop him from pursuing an acting career.

The film, shot primarily in black and white, also secured best cinematography for Geng’s regular DoP Wang Weihua, and best editing for Chen Ho-ping. A large delegation of 13 cast and crew members attended the film’s world premiere at the Golden Horse Film Festival.

The best actress award went to young Hong Kong actress Chung Suet-Ying for her performance as a hearing-impaired person in Adam Wong’s The Way We Talk, which premiered at the BFI London Film Festival. It marks her second consecutive best actress nomination, following Norris Wong’s The Lyricist Wannabe last year.

Award presenters included international guests such as director Daniel Kwan and producer Jonathan Wang from Everything Everywhere All At Once, and Japanese actor Hiroshi Abe.

61st Golden Horse Awards winners

Best Narrative Feature
An Unfinished Film

Best Director
Lou Ye, An Unfinished Film

Best New Director
Chiang Wei-Liang, Yin You-Qiao, Mongrel

Best Leading Actor
Zhang Zhiyong, Bel Ami

Best Leading Actress
Chung Suet-Ying, The Way We Talk

Best Supporting Actor
Shih Ming-Shuai, Gatao: Like Father Like Son

Best Supporting Actress
Yang Kuei-Mei, Yen And Ai-Lee

Best New Performer
Feifei Cheng, Big

Best Original Screenplay
Huang Xi, Daughter’s Daughter

Best Adapted Screenplay
Wang Xiaoshuai, Above The Dust

Best Cinematography
Wang Weihua, Bel Ami

Best Visual Effects
Tomi Kuo, Chiu Chun-Yi, Dead Talents Society

Best Art Direction
Wang Chih-Cheng, Liang Shuo-Lin, Dead Talents Society

Best Makeup & Costume Design
Lore Shih, Dead Talents Society

Best Action Choreography
Teddy Ray Huang, Dead Talents Society

Best Film Editing
Chen Hoping, Bel Ami

Best Sound Effects
Chen Yi-Ling, Eddie Huang, Yannick Dauby, From Island To Island

Best Original Film Score
Thomas Foguenne, Stranger Eyes

Best Original Film Song
“Dead Talents Society”, Dead Talents Society

Best Documentary Feature
From Island To Island, Lau Kek-Huat

Best Live Action Short Film
Side A: A Summer Day, Wan Kin-Fai

Best Documentary Short Film
Colour Ideology Sampling.Mov, Chan Cheuk-Sze, Kathy Wong

Best Animated Short Film
Father Figure, Shek Ka-Chun

Outstanding Taiwanese Filmmaker Of The Year
Li Si-Jian

Lifetime Achievement Award
Cheng Pei-Pei
Lin Wen-Chin

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