Mainland Chinese director Lou Ye claimed the two top honors – best narrative feature film and best director – at the Golden Horse Film Awards on Saturday in Taiwan with his indie title “An Unfinished Film.”
The prizes for Lou, and others awarded on the night, represent a defiant gesture towards mainland Chinese authorities which operate a restrictive system of controls over its film industry.
The long-running Golden Horse awards had for many years been regarded as the pinnacle awards event for Chinese-language cinema. But, after a speech advocating Taiwan’s independence was given from the stage by a 2018 awards winner, China sought to ban its filmmakers from attending the event and instead promoted its own prize race.
The People’s Republic of China (mainland China) and the Republic of China (Taiwan) are at loggerheads over legitimacy in many international institutions. China claims democratically-run Taiwan as its own territory with which it will be united, by force if necessary.
A work of docu-fiction, “An Unfinished Film” depicts a film crew trying to shoot a movie during the Covid-19 pandemic in Wuhan, as the city was placed in an unprecedented lockdown. The subject is highly sensitive for Chinese authorities and Lou used images that are banned or blocked in the movie.
It is unclear what punishment Lou will receive for making the movie, which debuted in Cannes earlier this year and is officially a Singapore-German coproduction. The film remains unreleased in China.
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Lou was not present at the Golden Horse ceremony in Taiwan, but his wife Ma Yingli did attend. She read out a statement in which Lou described making “An Unfinished Film” as “the most special” directing job he had ever undertaken. Lou has previously delved into other sensitive subjects including gay sex and the 1989 Tiananmen protests.
Also absent, but making his presence felt was mainland Chinese actor Zhang Zhiyong, who the best actor prize for his role in “Bel Ami,” a Chinese-language same-sex drama. Directed by China’s Geng Jun’s but officially a French production, “Bel Ami” also earned the best cinematography award and the best film editing prizes.
Wang Xiaoshuai, another mainland Chinese director who risked official opprobrium by premiering his Cultural Revolution-set film “Red Dust” in Berlin without government permission, was named winner of the best adapted screenplay award.
“Despite the sensitivity of the awards, more than 200 Chinese films entered this year’s competition, which Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said was the highest number in recent years,” AFP reported.
Taiwan operates a quota on the number of films from China that can play in its cinemas. By winning the island’s top film prize “An Unfinished Film” can now avoid the restriction and, it was reported, that its Taiwan distributor has now set a Dec. 20 release date. “Red Dust” and “Bel Ami” do not have releases scheduled in mainland China.
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Mainland China held its own prize ceremony, The Golden Rooster Awards in Xiamen, six days earlier. Zhang Yimou’s “Article 20” was named as the best film.
