Taipei, Nov. 27 (CNA) "The Falls," a mother/daughter drama, claimed the best film award at the Golden Horse Awards on Saturday, giving it the biggest haul of any film on the night.
"The Falls," which went into the ceremony on Saturday with 11 nominations, took home four awards: best narrative feature, best leading actress, best original screenplay, and best original film score.
The movie is centered around a mother and her teenage daughter, and tells the story of how the mother's mental illness affects their relationship and their lives as they are quarantined during the COVID-19 outbreak.
It has been selected as Taiwan's entry in the best international feature film category at the 2022 Academy Awards.
Accepting the award, director Chung Mong-hong said, "This award tells me that I can continue to make movies next year, the year after, and again the year after. I want to keep making movies each and every year."
Gingle Wang , who was nominated for best leading actress for her role in the film but lost to her on-screen mother Alyssa Chia , jokingly said that she was happy for Chia, but was "a little bit sad."
"I want to say that I hope one day our society can treat people different from us with more compassion, more understanding, and more love. My niece was born five days ago, and I hope that when she grows up, she can find the goodness of our world," Wang said.
The other nominees for this year's Golden Horse best feature film award were sci-fi crime thriller "The Soul" directed by Taiwanese director Cheng Wei-hao , "Drifting" by Hong Kong filmmaker Jun Li , "American Girl" by Taiwanese-American director Fiona Roan Feng-i , and "Till We Meet Again" by Taiwanese director Giddens Ko.
"American Girl," "The Soul," and "Till We Meet Again" also fared well, winning three awards each.
"American Girl," which received seven nominations, ended the night with the honors for best new director, best new performer, and best cinematography.
"The Soul" and "Till We Meet Again" also received three awards each from their respective 11 nominations.
"The Soul" took home best leading actor, best art direction, and best film editing, while "Till We Meet Again" won best visual effects, best sound effects, and best makeup and costume design.
"Drifting," directed by Li, went into Saturday's awards ceremony with 12 nominations, the most of any film, but only won best adapted screenplay.
The 58th Golden Horse Awards ceremony was held at the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall in Taipei on Saturday. The annual awards, established in 1962, are considered among the most prestigious and time-honored film awards in the world of Chinese-language cinema.
However, Beijing has boycotted the awards since 2019, resulting in many Chinese and Hong Kong filmmakers staying away.
Full list of the 2021 Golden Horse Award winners:
Best narrative feature: "The Falls"
Best documentary feature: "Revolution of Our Times" / By Kiwi Chow and HONGKONGERS
Best live action short film: "Good Day" / Director: Zhang Zhi-teng
Best documentary short film (new category): "In Their Teens"/ Director: Lin Yu-en
Best animated short film: "The Magical Tracing" / Director: Wu De-chuen
Best director: Clara Law / "Drifting Petals"
Best leading actor: Chang Chen / "The Soul"
Best leading actress: Alyssa Chia / "The Falls"
Best supporting actor: Liu Kuan-ting / "Treat or Trick"
Best supporting actress: Wang Yu-xuan / "Goddamned Asura"
Best new director: Fiona Roan Feng-i / "American Girl"
Best new performer: Caitlin Fang / "American Girl"
Best original screenplay: Chung Mong-hong and Chang Yaosheng / "The Falls"
Best adapted screenplay: Jun Li / "Drifting"
Best cinematography: Giorgos Valsamis / "American Girl"
Best visual effects: ArChin Yen / "Till We Meet Again"
Best art direction: Huang Mei-ching , Liang Shuo-lin and Liao Huei-li / "The Soul"
Best makeup & costume design: Singing Lin , Hsiao Pai-chen and Liu Hsien-chia / "Till We Meet Again"
Best action choreography: Chan Man-fai , Chu Ke-feng and Feng Ren-zhi / "Nezha"
Best original film score: Lu Luming / "The Falls"
Best original film song: "I Missed You" / By Eve Ai for "I Missed You"
Best film editing: Shieh Meng-ju / "The Soul"
Best sound effects: R.T Kao and Chu Shih-yi / "Till We Meet Again"
Outstanding Taiwanese Filmmaker of the Year: Texture artist Frank Chen
Lifetime achievement award: Cinematographer Lin Tsan-ting and director Tsai Yang-ming
