Hong Kong films have received a leading number of award nomination at 2022 Golden Horse Award, despite warnings from a local film organisation that advised producers to think twice before attending the event in Taiwan due to political reasons.
Closer Look At The Nomination List
The 59th Golden Horse Awards in Taiwan has released its list of nominations on 27th September, and Hong Kong films are having enjoyed success so far at the nomination stage Even though only 6 films were screened in the first half of the year due to the Covid lockdown.
Hong Kong’s first noir film, Limbo, led the race by receiving 14 nominations including best film, best director, best actor and best actress. This crime thriller is an adapted screenplay from mainland author Lei Mi and is now available on Disney plus.
The competition for Best Leading Actor has really intensified this year. 3 out of 5 nominees come from Hong Kong, namely Louis Cheung of The Narrow Road, Lam Ka-tung of Limbo, and Anthony Wong of The Sunny Side of the Street, with their Taiwan competitor Chang Hsiao-chuan of The Post-Truth World and Yu An-shun of Coo-Coo 043.
“It is really difficult to win, I mean when everyone (nominee for best leading actor) are extraordinary good. I will face this with easy mind!” said Anthony Wong on Facebook.
Nominees for best leading actress include Chinese actress Cya Liu of Limbo and Hong Kong actress Angela Yuen of The Narrow Road, together with other female actresses contesting for the best actress award.
Political Controversy
This is the third year since Beijing has boycotted the most prestigious awards for Chinese-language film as they accused the awards had been politicised. In 2018, there was an award winner expressed a call for Taiwan independence at her award acceptance speeches.
Apart from Mainland Chinese films, numbers of co-produced or co-funded Hong Kong films with China have also gone from the stage as they afraid attending the event might affect their market in mainland China or investors political interest. For example, the blockbuster Anita which is on screen on China, Hong Kong and Malaysia is absent from the event.
The Hong Kong Motion Picture Industry Association (MPIA) reminded local producer to think twice before attending the event last month in a letter to their members and mentioned the “intensifying geopolitical tensions” of the region.
Crucindo Hung Cho-sing (middle), the chairman of The Hong Kong Motion Picture Industry Association asked MPIA members think twice before attending the Golden Horse Award.
“We are worried that someone would mention Taiwan independence or Hong Kong independence,” said Crucindo Hung Cho-sing, the association’s chairman in an interview by Commercial Radio Hong Kong. While he also claimed that the letter is not aimed at stopping their members from joining the event but just a warm reminder of the consequences they might have to bear.
The prize presentation ceremony is on 19th November in Taipei.