A three-hour gala awards ceremony for the 11th annual Huabiao film awards was held in Beijing yesterday, helping to mark a century of Chinese cinema, a day after the Feitian television awards were presented.

The film award jury gave Best Actor to Wu Jun and Pu Cunxin for their convincing lead roles in Model Solider Zhang Side and A Bright Moon, a biopic about Buddhist Master the Reverend Hong Yi.

Best Actress was shared by Zhao Wei and Zhang Ziyi for their performances in Huo Jianqi's Time to Love and Zhang Yimou's House of Flying Daggers.

Lu Chuan and Yin Li shared the Best Director commendation for Kekexili: Mountain Patrol and Model Solider Zhang Side.

Ten director's newest films, including Kekexili: Mountain Patrol, Legend of Chen Yun, Model Cop Ren Changxia and Deng Xiaoping in 1928, shared Best Picture.

The awards, organized by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT), are named after the decorative columns in front of the Palace Museum (also known as the Forbidden City).

A total of 212 Chinese films were made last year, according to SARFT, and total box office revenues amounted to 1.5 billion yuan (US$185 million), up 50 percent on 2003.

The day before, the SARFT 25th Feitian awards for domestically-produced TV shows were also presented in Beijing.

Best Actor was shared by Zhang Fengyi and Chen Baoguo, while Best Actress went to 78-year-old Lu Yuan.

(China Daily August 29, 2005)