The war epic "The Battle at Lake Changjin" won two top awards at the highly anticipated closing ceremony of the 2022 China Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival on Saturday.

The film, co-directed by three legendary filmmakers, Chen Kaige, Tsui Hark and Dante Lam, was released in 2021 and earned a whopping 5.77 billion yuan ($906 million) to become China's highest-grossing film of all time. It collected two of the most important trophies — best feature film and best director — to become one of the biggest winners of the 35th Golden Rooster Awards. According to Bona Film Group, a documentary on the making of "The Battle at Lake Changjin" and its sequel will be released on Nov. 18.

"It was our privilege to make this film," said Yu Dong, producer of the film and chairman of Bona Film Group, when accepting the award. "We overcame tremendous challenges and pressure, including the difficulties brought about by the pandemic. Thank you to all the crew and all the audience for your support in making it a new box office record-holder. The Chinese film industry has never given up!"

The event also marked the second time Chen Kaige and Tsui Hark had been named best director at the Golden Roosters. "This was a very great challenge in my career," Tsui said in his speech. "Thanks to such a significant project, we felt the bravery and power of those heroes, and we worked passionately to finish the film. With the power that the film inspired in us, we hope to make even better films in the future."

Other winners of the night included Zhu Yilong who received the best actor award for "Lighting Up The Stars," a tear-jerker family drama about a funeral director whose chance encounter with a girl brings about an unexpected change in his attitude toward life. The movie's director Liu Jiangjiang also took home the award for best directorial debut.

The best actress award went to Xi Meijuan for her performance in "Song of Spring," a feature film telling the story of an 85-year-old mother who has to care for her 65-year-old daughter when her daughter is diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.

The best supporting actor went to Xin Baiqing for his performance in art-house romantic feature "Yanagawa," which also won best small-to-medium-budget feature film. Meanwhile the best supporting actress award was handed to Qi Xi for her performance in "Nice View," a film depicting an entrepreneurial saga set in the city of Shenzhen.

Last year's romantic film "B for Busy" received the awards for best screenplay and editing. The charming story set in Shanghai explores love, relationships, dilemmas and friendships among middle-aged women and men from the perspective of women, with most of the dialogue in the local dialect. According to Chen Lizhi, chairman and CEO of leading film marketing company Beijing Maxtimes Culture, the film's director and scriptwriter Shao Yihui will start making a new parallel chapter of the film next year. 

Zhang Yimou's war film "Snipers" won best sound recording and best cinematography, while this year's hit sci-fi comedy "Moon Man" won two awards — for best art direction and best film music.

Other awards included best animated feature for "Boonie Bears: Back to Earth," best documentary for "Remembering 1950," best children's film for "Goodbye the Groundhog," and best opera film for "Daughter of Dunhuang." In addition, "Otac" from Serbia won the best international film award, established last year as a new addition to the Golden Roosters, while the patriotic anthology film "My Country, My Parents" won the jury prize.

According to the China Film Association, films eligible for this year's Golden Roosters were those granted screening permits in China from July 1, 2021, to July 15, 2022. There were a total of 168 submissions for films from various genres across the various awards, including 51 feature films, 50 small-to-medium-budget feature films, 13 children's films, 15 animated features, 17 documentary or popular science films, 11 opera films and 11 foreign films. The event saw nominees compete in 20 award categories.

Launched in 1981, the Golden Rooster Awards is a national event sponsored by the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles and the China Film Association. The China Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival took place in Xiamen from Nov. 10-12, and included a variety of activities such as forums, film market and film exhibitions.

Related

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)