Crime comedy ‘Godspeed’ leads Golden Horse nominees
Taiwanese director Chung Mong-hong's (???) black comedy crime film "Godspeed" (????) leads the pack for this year's Golden Horse Awards, with eight nominations, including best feature film, the organizers announced Saturday.
"Godspeed" is about a drug mule who travels across Taiwan to deliver heroin, and a taxi driver who finds himself caught up in a drug delivery gone wrong.
The film also garnered nods for best director, best lead actor, best supporting actor, best cinematography, best art direction, best makeup and costume design, and best original film score, the Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival Executive Committee announced.
The other nominees in the best feature film category are Myanmar-Taiwanese director Midi Z's (???) "The Road to Mandalay" (????), Chinese director Feng Xiaogang's (???) "I Am Not Madame Bovary" (??????), Chinese director Zhang Dalei's (???) "The Summer Is Gone" (??), and "Trivisa" (????) by Hong Kong directors Frank Hui (???), Jevons Au (???) and Vicky Wong (???).
Chung, who picked up a nomination in the best director category, was joined in the category by Feng and Midi Z, as well as Hong Kong's Johnnie To (???) for his film "Three" (???), and Hong Kong's Derek Tsang (???) for his film "Soul Mate" (?????).
In the best lead actress category, Taiwan's Wu Ke-xi (???) in "The Road to Mandalay" and Hsu Wei-ning (???) in "The Tag-Along" (?????) will compete against China's Fan Bingbing (???) in "I Am Not Madame Bovary," and Zhou Dongyu (???) and Ma Sichun (???) in "Soul Mate."
The best lead actor category will see Hong Kong's Tony Leung (???) in "Cold War 2" (??2), Michael Hui (???) in "Godspeed," and Jacky Cheung (???) in "Heaven in the Dark" (????) compete against China's Fan Wei (??) in "Mr. No Problem" (???????) and Taiwan's Kai Ko (???) in "The Road to Mandalay."
The film with the second-highest number of nominations is "Soul Mate" with seven nods. Tied for third place are "The Road to Mandalay," "The Summer Is Gone" and "Soul on a String" (?????), each with six nominations.
Competing in the best supporting actress category are Wu Yanshu (???) in "Book of Love" (????????????), Liu Pei (??) in "Someone to Talk to" (??????), Li Xing (??) in "The Tenants Downstairs" (?????), Elaine Jin (???) in "Mad World" (????) and Lu Yi-ching (???) in "ForA�t Debussy" (?????).
Paul Chin Pei (??) in "Book of Love," Lin Yu-chih (??) in "Godspeed," Austin Lin (???) in "At Cafe 6" (?????), Eric Tsang (???) in "Mad World" and Lam Suet (??) in "Robbery" (??) picked up best supporting actor nominations.
In the best new director category, Zhang, Hui, Au and Wong will compete with Cheng Wei-hao (???) for "The Tag-Along," Wong Chun (??) for "Mad World," and Chu Hsien-che (???) for "White Ant" (??).
Outstanding Taiwanese Filmmaker of the Year was awarded to Midi Z for "expanding the scope and definition of Taiwanese cinema," said Wen Tien-hsiang (???), executive director of the Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival Executive Committee.
Midi Z's "The Road to Mandalay" centers on the life and love of two illegal immigrants in Thailand.
The Lifetime Achievement Award, meanwhile, went to screenwriter Zhang Yong Xiang (???), who has written some 120 movie scripts.
A total of 534 films were submitted for competition this year, up from 427 last year, and the most ever to enter the competition, according to the committee.
Wen said this year's nomination meeting was the longest ever because many categories saw fierce competition and almost all categories required three to four rounds of discussion.
One of the highlights this year is that a large number of new directors -- 85 of them -- submitted their works for competition, Wen said.
The ceremony for the 53rd Golden Horse Awards, one of the most prestigious film awards in the Chinese-speaking world, is scheduled for Nov. 26 in Taipei, while the film festival will open Nov. 4.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel