The ceremony for 57th Golden Horse Awards, which are among the most prestigious and time-honored film awards in the Mandarin-speaking community, was held Nov. 21 at the National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall in Taipei City.
At the star-studded event, veteran actress Chen Shu-fang (陳淑芳) took home awards for best leading actress and best supporting actress for her impeccable performances in family dramas "Little Big Women (孤味)" and "Dear Tenant (親愛的房客)," respectively, Mo Tzu-yi (莫子儀) won best leading actor for his role in "Dear Tenant." Chen and Mo are both first time nominees.
Organized by the Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival Executive Committee, the annual tribute to cinema saw feature film "My Missing Valentine (消失的情人節)" by acclaimed director Chen Yu-hsun (陳玉勳) receive a total of five accolades: best narrative feature, best director, best original screenplay, best visual effects, and best film editing.
Prestigious director Hou Hsiao-hsien (侯孝賢) was named the winner of the Lifetime Achievement Award for his hard work, achievements, and also legacy in cinema.
Before sharing the stage with the Taiwanese master auteur, celebrated Japanese director Hirokazu Koreeda, who presented the award, expressed his appreciation for Hou who "has inspired him to be a film director."
"Even though we are not biologically related, I have always considered myself as his son. Like many in this world, I am a huge fan of Hou, and today I stand here representing all [his] disciples and followers. I don't plan to keep this joy [of granting Hou the award] all to myself, please join me and share the delight," said Koreeda.
Another highlight of the event was the attendance of renowned Taiwanese director Ang Lee (李安), who encouraged people in the film industry to keep on making good films. As chairman of the Golden Horse Film Awards Executive Committee, Lee thanked participants from home and abroad who have managed to attend the rare physical event amid the global pandemic.
The Outstanding Taiwanese Filmmaker of the Year award went to Pen Ren-meng (彭仁孟), a late electrician who had worked in the industry for decades. The best documentary, meanwhile, went to "Lost Course (迷航)," which chronicles a grassroots democratic movement in the southern Chinese village of Wukan, according to an introduction at the award's website.
Hong Kong playwrights Felix Tsang (曾俊榮) and Kiwi Chow (周冠威) received the Best Adapted Screenplay award for their script for romance thriller "Beyond the Dream (幻愛)."
Taiwanese singer-songwriter Crowd Lu (盧廣仲) was another notable winner, with his track "Your Name Engraved Herein (刻在你心底的名字)" from the eponymous film winning the best original film song, making the 35-year-old artist a laureate of three prestigious honors presented in Taiwan —Golden Horse Awards, the Golden Bell Awards, and the Golden Melody Awards.
The Golden Horse Awards were founded in 1962 with the aim of promoting film production in Taiwan and recognizing outstanding Taiwanese films and filmmakers. The awards were later expanded to accept all Chinese-language submissions from other parts of the world, such as Hong Kong, China, Canada and the United States.