John Hsu’s Taiwanese supernatural comedy Dead Talents Society has scored 11 nominations for the 61st Golden Horse Awards, followed by Tom Lin’s Yen And Ai-Lee and Geng Jun’s Bel Ami, with eight nods each.
Dead Talents Society and Bel Ami are among the five films competing in the best film category, along with Ray Yeung’s All Shall Be Well, Yeo Siew Hua’s Stranger Eyes and Lou Ye’s An Unfinished Film. The same five films are also running in the best director category.
They reflect the overall representation at this year’s Golden Horse Awards, with the participation of Hong Kong, mainland China and Singapore as well as multiple-country international collaborations with Taiwan.
Scroll down for full list of nominations
Sony-backed Dead Talents Society has also secured nominations for Sandrine Pinna as best supporting actress, best original screenplay and a number of technical awards. The film has proved its crowd pleaser status, having received audience awards globally such as the people’s choice Midnight Madness awards first runner-up at Toronto where it had its North American premiere.
Taiwanese mother-daughter family drama Yen And Ai-Lee, which is set to world premiere in Busan’s Jiseok competition, has secured eight nominations, including best actress for Kimi Hsia, best supporting actress for Yang Kuei-mei, and best original screenplay.
This year’s nominations feature an increasing number of films directed by mainland Chinese directors, including Bel Ami, Lou Ye’s Cannes title An Unfinished Film, Wang Xiaoshuai’s Berlinale title Above The Dust (nominated for best adapted screenplay), Qiu Yang’s Berlinale title Some Rain Must Fall (nominated for best new director), and Wang Bing’s documentary Youth (Hard Times).
Hong Kong films in the spotlight include LGBTQ+ family drama All Shall Be Well, winner of the Teddy Award at the Berlinale, for which Patra Au is nominated for best actress; and The Way We Talk, which is set to premiere at the BFI London Film Festival and has Yau Hawk Sau up for best actor and Chung Suet-Ying nominated for best actress, having previously received a nod in the same category last year for The Lyricist Wannabe. Further Hong Kong titles in the running include Love Lies, with Ho Miu Ki up for best new director and Sandra Ng for best actress; and Stuntman for action choreography.
Surveillance drama Stranger Eyes, the first ever film from Singapore to be selected for Venice’s Golden Lion competition, has scored six nominations, which also include best supporting actor for Lee Kang-sheng and best original screenplay. It will next open the Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival (November 7-24) and the Singapore International Film Festival (November 28-December 8).
This co-production between Singapore, Taiwan, France and the US is among a growing number of Southeast Asian and international collaborations that have Taiwan as a production partner. Likewise, Taiwan-Singapore-France coproduction Mongrel has received seven nominations, including the first best actor nominee from Thailand for Wanlop Rungkumjad and best new director for Singapore’s Chiang Wei Liang and Taiwan’s Yin You Qiao.
Embers, the latest film by Taiwanese director Chung Mong-Hong whose A Sun was Oscar-shortlisted, is vying for five awards including best actor for Chang Chen and best supporting actor for Mo Tzu-yi.
The nominations were announced on October 2 by Wen Tien-hsiang, CEO of the Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival,. A record-breaking 718 submissions were received, including 99 narrative features, two animated features, 68 documentary features, 403 live-action short films, 90 documentary short films and 56 animated short films.
The 61st Golden Horse Awards Ceremony will be held on November 23 at Taipei Music Center.
61st Golden Horse Awards
Best Narrative Feature
All Shall Be Well
Stranger Eyes
Dead Talents Society
An Unfinished Film
Bel Ami
Best Director
Ray Yeung, All Shall Be Well
Yeo Siew-Hua, Stranger Eyes
John Hsu, Dead Talents Society
Lou Ye, An Unfinished Film
Geng Jun, Bel Ami
Best New Director
Qiu Yang, Some Rain Must Fall
Peng Tzu-Hui, Wang Ping-Wen, A Journey In Spring
Ye Xingyu, Three Castrated Goats
Chiang Wei-Liang, Yin You-Qiao, Mongrel
Ho Miu-Ki, Love Lies
Best Leading Actor
King Jieh-Wen, A Journey In Spring
Chang Chen, The Embers
Yau Hawk-Sau, The Way We Talk
Wanlop Rungkumjad, Mongrel
Zhang Zhiyong, Bel Ami
Best Leading Actress
Patra Au Ga-Man, All Shall Be Well
Kimi Hsia, Yen And Ai-Lee
Chung Suet-Ying, The Way We Talk
Sylvia Chang, Daughter’s Daughter
Sandra Ng, Love Lies
Best Supporting Actor
Lee Kang-Sheng, Stranger Eyes
Mo Tzu-Yi, The Embers
Zeng Guo-Cheng, Yen And Ai-Lee
Daniel Hong, Mongrel
Shih Ming-Shuai, Gatao: Like Father Like Son
Best Supporting Actress
Sandrine Pinna, Dead Talents Society
Pets Tseng, Big
Yang Kuei-Mei, Yen And Ai-Lee
Lu Yi-Ching, Mongrel
Eugenie Liu, Daughter’s Daughter
Best New Performer
Yu Aier, Some Rain Must Fall
Feifei Cheng, Big
Tang Yung-Hsu, Salli
Lin Cheng-Hsun, Intimate Encounter
Alisia Liang, The Chronicles Of Libidoists
Best Original Screenplay
Yeo Siew-Hua, Stranger Eyes
John Hsu, Vincent Tsai, Dead Talents Society
Tom Lin Shu-Yu, Yen And Ai-Lee
Huang Xi, Daughter’s Daughter
Geng Jun, Bel Ami
Best Adapted Screenplay
Fujii Michihito, Hayashida Hirokawa, 18x2 Beyond Youthful Days
Red Chang, Joyce Liu Lei-Shuan, Chiang His-Wen, Shih Cheng-Yu, Gatao: Like Father Like Son
Wang Xiaoshuai, Above The Dust
Best Cinematography
Kartik Vijay, Yen And Ai-Lee
Imamura Keisuke, 18x2 Beyond Youthful Days
Michaël Capron, Mongrel
Aziz Zhambakiyev, Shambhala
Wang Weihua, Bel Ami
Best Visual Effects
Tomi Kuo, Chiu Chun-Yi, Dead Talents Society
Alex Lim Hung-Fung, Yee Kwok-Leung, Leung Wai-Kit, Big
Shigeharu Tomotoshi, Gary Chen, Gatao: Like Father Like Son
Best Art Direction
Wang Chih-Cheng, Liang Shuo-Lin, Dead Talents Society
Chao Shih-Hao,, The Embers
Penny Tsai Pei-Ling, Yen And Ai-Lee
Yeh Tzu-Wei, Mongrel
LV Dong, Above The Dust
Best Makeup & Costume Design
Lore Shih, Dead Talents Society
Hsu Li-Wen, The Embers
Yip Kar-Yan, Yen And Ai-Lee
Shirley Kao, Daughter’s Daughter
Dorjee Dradhul Gurung, Shambhala
Best Action Choreography
Teddy Ray Huang, Dead Talents Society
Hong Eui-Jung, Gatao: Like Father Like Son
Lin Wei-Yi, Yuan Hsu-Hu, Chang Ya-Wei, More, Liao Hsiao-Ting, The Chronicles Of Libidoists
Kong Tao-Hoi, Leung Pok-Yan, Stuntman
Best Film Editing
Anna Schlenker, Xixi
William Chang Suk-Ping, Lai Kwun-Tung, All Shall Be Well
Tom Lin, Yen And Ai-Lee
Tian Jiaming, An Unfinished Film
Chen Hoping, Bel Ami
Best Sound Effects
Chen Yi-Ling, Eddie Huang, Yannick Dauby, From Island To Island
Tu Duu-Chih, Tu Tse-Kang, Stranger Eyes
Book Chien, Tang Hsiang-Chu, Chen Jia-Li, Dead Talents Society
Cyrus Tang, The Way We Talk
R.T Kao, Lim Ting-Li, Chen Yung, Mongrel
Best Original Film Score
Thomas Foguenne, Stranger Eyes
Band The Dead Talents, Dead Talents Society
Ohmama Takashi, 18x2 Beyond Youthful Days
Hanno Yoshihiro, Meuko! Meuko!, Locust
Amy Chen Xiaoshu, Bel Ami
Best Original Film Song
Dead Talents Society, Dead Talents Society
People From The North, The Embers
Kiokunotabibito, 18x2 Beyond Youthful Days
Listen, Daughter’s Daughter
Bel Ami, Bel Ami
Best Documentary Feature
From Island To Island, Lau Kek-Huat
Service Foundation After The Snowmelt, Lo Yi-Shan
Xixi, Fan Wu
Soul Of Soil, Yen Lan-Chuan
Youth (Hard Times), Wang Bing
Best Live Action Short Film
The Burning Night, Demon Wong
4 Sundays In September, Yong Mun-Chee
Side A: A Summer Day, Wan Kin-Fai
Caged Dog, Yen Hao-Hsuan
The Fishbowl Girl, Wu Hung-Yi
Best Documentary Short Film
Before Then, Xue Mengzhu
Wild Road, Chen Chiao-Wei
Colour Ideology Sampling.Mov, Chan Cheuk-Sze, Kathy Wong
Something About Us, Rex Ren
Letters From The Imprisoned: Chow Hang Tung, Paul Lee
Best Animated Short Film
Minus Plus Multiply, Lee Chu-Chieh
Essence, Hung Wan-Yu
Father Figure, Shek Ka-Chun
Bad Kids, Chuang Yu-Jin
Ruthless Blade, Zhang Bo
Outstanding Taiwanese Filmmaker Of The Year
Li Si-Jian
Lifetime Achievement Award
Cheng Pei-Pei
Lin Wen-Chin
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