“Tracey” and Hong Kong New Talents up for Golden Horse Award

The 55th Taipei Golden Horse Awards Ceremony is set to be held at National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall on 17 November. A total of 667 films (228 feature films, eight animated features, 99 documentaries, 266 short films, and 66 animated shorts) have been registered for this year's Golden Horse Awards, compared to 576 films from last year.

Chinese director Zhang Yimou's “Shadow” is the strong favourite in this year’s event with nominations in 12 categories, including Best Feature Film, Best Director, Best Leading Actor (Deng Chao), Best Leading Actress (Sun Li), Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Visual Effects, Best Art Direction, Best Makeup & Costume Design, Best Action Choreography, Best Sound Effects, and Best Original Film Score.

Throughout the many years the Golden Horse Awards has seen no shortage of Hong Kong film nominations. Emerging director Jun Li’s first feature film “Tracey” is nominated in the categories of Best Supporting Actor (Ben Yuen) and Best Supporting Actress (Kara Wai). Li previously directed “Liu Yang He”, winner at the Fresh Wave International Short Film Festival. Kara Wai plays Phillip Keung’s wife in “Tracey” who is devastated to find out her husband wants to become a transgendered woman. Best Supporting Actor nominee Ben Yuen, an experienced theatre performer, has been in a number of films. Excited for his nomination, Yuen takes the chance to show gratitude to director Jun Li, veteran filmmaker Shu Kei, and investor Louis Koo. Kara Wai is grateful that her character allows for constant reinterpretations. Although not among the nominees for Best Director, Li’s “My World”—winner of the Sundance Short Film Competition—is nominated for Best Live Action Short Film. Fruit Chan’s “Three Husbands” is nominated for Best Leading Actress (Chloe Maayan). Aggie Lee Pak Yee’s “Muteum” is nominated for Best Animated Short Film.

In the Best Documentary category is “Umbrella Diaries: The First Umbrella”, which charts the origins of the Umbrella Movement in 2014. The film is helmed by Hong Kong director Leong Po Chih’s son James Leong, who also co-directed documentaries “Homeless FC” and “Wukan” with Lynn Lee. Both won Best Feature at the Chinese Documentary Festival in 2014 and 2015 respectively.

Renowned film actress Gong Li is the head of the jury for the 55th Golden Horse Film Festival. Prior to her heading the Golden Horse jury, Gong has chaired juries at a number of notable international events. The judging panel this year will include Yau Nai Hoi, Golden Horse Awards winner for Best Original Screenplay; Chen Po Wen, Golden Horse Awards winner for Best Editing; Michael Berry, internationally-acclaimed Chinese language film scholar; Jimmy Huang, producer and winner of Outstanding Taiwanese Filmmaker of the Year; and Jojo Hui Yuet Chun, Hong Kong producer and previous nominee for Best Original Screenplay.

55th Golden Horse Awards nominations Best Leading Actor: Deng Chao “Shadow”, Duan Yihong “The Looming Storm”, Roy Chiu “Dear Ex”, Xu Zheng “Dying to Survive”, Peng Yuchang “An Elephant Sitting Still”

Best Leading Actress: Hsieh Ying Xuan “Dear Ex”, Zhou Xun “Last Letter”, Sun Li “Shadow”, Zhao Tao “Ash Is Purest White”, Chaloe Maayan “Three Husbands”

Best Supporting Actor: Tian Zhuang Zhuang “Us and Them”, Lee Hong Chi “Cities of Last Things”, Cheng Jen Shuo “Gatao 2: Rise of the King”, Zhang Yu “Dying to Survive”, Ben Yuen “Tracey”

Best Supporting Actress: Kara Wai “Tracey”, Ding Ning “Cities of Last Things”, Xu Qing “Hidden Man”, Phoebe Huang “Dad’s Suit”, Zhang Zifeng “Last Letter”

Best Director: Zhang Yimou “Shadow”, Bi Gan “Long Day’s Journey Into Night”, Jiang Wen “Hidden Man”, Pema Tseden “Jinpa”, Lou Ye “The Shadow Play”

Best New Director: Mag Hsu & Hsu Chih Yen, Dong Yue, René Liu, Wen Muye, Hu Bo

Best Feature Film: “Dear Ex”, “Dying to Survive”, “An Elephant Sitting Still”, “Shadow”, “Long Day’s Journey Into Night”

Best New Performer: Joseph Huang “Dear Ex”, Xie Zhang Ying “Cities of Last Things”, Zhang Zaixing “Gatao 2: Rise of the King”, Si Pangoyod “Long Time No Sea”, Fu Meng Po “Father to Son”

Best Cinematography: Zhao Xiao Ding “Shadow”, Nakashima Nagao “Xiao Mei”, Yao Hung I, Dong Jinsong, David Chizallet “Long Day's Journey Into Night”, Fan Chao “An Elephant Sitting Still”, Jake Pollock “The Shadow Play”

Best Makeup & Costume Design: Liu Qiang & Li Hua “The Looming Storm”, Chen Minzheng “Shadow”, Li Miao “Dying to Survive”, Dong Zhongmin, Uma Wang, Zhang Shuping “Hidden Man”

Visit www.goldenhorse.org.tw for the full list of nominees.