November 26th, 2016
The 2016 Golden Horse Awards Live Blog (NOW COMPLETE)
Welcome to our 2016 Golden Horse Awards live blog! Unfortunately, I’ll be flying solo tonight.
You guys know how this works: The latest post will be on top, so scroll to the very bottom if you want to read from the beginning. Just reload the page for the latest updates.
23:55 - And that’s another live blog finished. Thank you all for following for the last 5 hours. And see you in April for the Hong Kong Film Awards!
23:49 - Hong Kong and China are the big winners. A Taiwan film got the most nominations, but it only came out with four awards tonight.
Also, yay, young people! New director wins best film. Two HK directorial debuts won big awards.
23:47 - Very interesting results this year. Either Ann Hui’s jury saw many films deserving of awards or didn’t see one film that was particularly deserving of winning more awards than others. Would love to see the jury explain their choices, but I don’t think they do that at the Golden Horse Awards.
23:45 - And the Best Feature Film Award goes to………THE SUMMER IS GONE. The night’s full of surprises.
Final award count: SUMMER IS GONE, SOUL MATE (one category, two winners) CROSSCURRENT, MAD WORLD, TRIVISA, DETECTIVE CHINATOWN and MR. NO PROBLEM at two awards each. I AM NOT MADAME BOVARY, GODSPEED, MOJIN, OLABOLA, AT CAFE 6, LE MOULIN, CITY OF JADE at one award each.
23:42 - Finally time for Best Feature Film. Last year’s ceremony ended at 23:32. It’s already 23:42.
Jury president Ann Hui and Golden Hore Chairwoman presenting.
23:34 - Ma Sichun: “I want to thank Dongyu…”
Zhou Dongyu: “Oh I forgot to thank you.”
Ma: “I want to thank Dongyu, because I wouldn’t be here without her. But then again, maybe Dongyu wouldn’t be here without me, either.”
23:33 - “No one else in my family is in the movies, so I think I’ve really done my family proud!” - Zhou Dongyu.
23:32 - First thing that Zhou Dongyu does is talk about how cold she is. She does go on to thank Zhang Yimou.
23:28 - (Holy crap, that SOUL MATE clip for Zhou Dongyu has a MAJOR spoiler)
And the winner of the Best Actress Award is………Zhou Dongyu AND Ma Sichun for SOUL MATE. I really didn’t see THAT one coming.
Is this the first double acting award ever for the Golden Horse?
23:26 - Feng Xiaogang now gives the Best Actor speech that he wasn’t able to give last year (Guan Hu gave a speech on his behalf).
23:25 - Feng Xiaogang (as last year’s Best Actor winner) and Gwei Lun Mei on stage now to present Best Actress.
23:18 - CROSSCURRENT, MAD WORLD, TRIVISA, DETECTIVE CHINATOWN and MR. NO PROBLEM at two awards each. I AM NOT MADAME BOVARY, GODSPEED, THE SUMMER IS GONE, MOJIN, OLABOLA, AT CAFE 6, LE MOULIN, CITY OF JADE at one award each.
23:15 - (Love that the clip they show from GODSPEED is the only scene in which Michael Hui speaks Cantonese)
And the winner for Best Actor is…….Fan Wei for MR. NO PROBLEM. This is his first Golden Horse nomination and win.
23:13 - Chang Chen and Karena Lam now on stage to present Best Actor.
23:10 - Even though BOVARY now has Best Director, Best Feature Film is still up in the air. TRIVISA also getting love from the jury.
23:08 - ANOTHER commercial break.
23:06 - This is Feng’s first Golden Horse as director. He previously won Best Adapted Screenplay for WORLD WITH NO THIEVES and Best Actor for MR. SIX.
23:02 - Time for Best Director now. The winner is………..Feng Xiaogang for I AM NOT MADAME BOVARY. Feng won Best Actor last year for Mr. Six.
That circle really paid off.
“My Mandarin isn’t very good. Can I speak Cantonese?” - Feng Xiaogang.
23:01 - “I’m sure that most of the audience knows what she’s saying, but I have to translate for Hou Hsiao Hsien” - Matilda Tao.
“No need. We worked a film together. We didn’t talk to each other, but we didn’t need to talk. That’s how we finished so quickly” - Hou Hsiao Hsien.
22:59 - Wait, Hou Hsiao Hsien speaks French????? Never mind, they’re speaking English. HHH seems to have forgotten his lines. He’s staring at his notes while Juliette Binoche fills in. This is hilarious.
22:58 - Back to giving out awards now. Hou Hsiao Hsien and Juliette Binoche now on stage to present Best Director.
22:54 - OK, Coco Lee is totally better than Stephanie Sun tonight. No contest.
22:48 - We’re not getting the Best Director award yet because they have to fit in a Coco Lee performance. Guys, it’s getting late.
22:42 - The major MAJOR awards left now. Expect one commercial break per award just to draw things out.
22:39 - Time for Best Original Song. The winner is………OLABOLA. (Arena Cahaya by Zee Avi)
22:33 - Ann Hsu and last year’s Best Original Song winner Suming Rupi on stage now to present Best Original Score.
And the winner is……..Lim Giong for CITY OF JADE. This is his fifth Golden Horse Award.
22:29 - Technical awards all out of the way now. Two music awards, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director and Best Film left.
22:26 - Time for Best Art Direction. The winner is………GODSPEED, for its first award of the night.
I think this is the first win for a Taiwan film tonight.
22:24 - CROSSCURRENT, MAD WORLD, TRIVISA and DETECTIVE CHINATOWN now at two awards each.
22:23: And the winner for Best Makeup and Costume Design is…DETECTIVE CHINATOWN, for the second win of the night.
22:21 - Joseph Chang and Rhydian Vaughan on stage now to present Best Makeup and Costume Design and Best Art Direction.
22:20 - By the way, we’re in hour four now. The end is in sight!!!
22:17 - Nan Zheng Bei Zhan on stage now to perform the Best Original Song nominee from DETECTIVE CHINATOWN.
22:13 - “All I can wait for is a Lifetime Achievement Award” - says one of the lighting guys.
22:10 - Now a montage that highlights people who work behind the scenes in the movies, from camera operators to makeup to art directors to lighting people.
22:08 - Did Matilda Tao just say that Shu Qi is pregnant? Even she got caught off-guard by that.
22:02 - “Midi Z snuck into Taiwan, right? Oh, he came as a student.” - Asked Hou Hsiao Hsien on the Midi Z introduction clip.
22:01 - CROSSCURRENT, TRIVISA and MAD WORLD now tied at two awards each. Yay, Hong Kong.
21:58 - Shu Qi now on stage solo to present the Taiwan Filmmaker of the Year award to Midi Z. He has two films nominated this year: ROAD TO MANDALAY and CITY OF JADE.
21:57 - Wong also thanks his teacher Patrick Tam (he went to City University).
21:56 - “A script is a film’s soul, and she is my soul” - Wong said about his screenwriter/girlfriend. (Quote corrected)
21:54 - Eric Tsang produced a short film for Wong before taking his award-nominated role in MAD WORLD for no pay. Wong previously participated in the Fresh Wave Short Film Festival and is a co-writer of THE WHITE STORM.
21:53 - The trio is presenting Best New Director (Tsang isn’t nominated for this because of his previous co-directorial credits)
The winner is…….Wong Chun for MAD WORLD.
21:51 - “It seems like everyone who’s been on stage tonight ends up losing. Michael Hui’s in trouble!” - Eric Tsang.
21:49 - Eric Tsang, Bowie Tsang and Derek Tsang (or the Tsang Family) on stage now.
21:45 - Baobu Badulu performing the Original Song nominee from HANG IN THERE KIDS!
21:38 - “There are people in the film industry who had a much harder time than me. I hope the Golden Horse Awards would recognize the people who work behind the scenes more in the coming years.” - Chang Yung Hsiang.
21:37 - Chang says that he can see from the award staff that there are more young people in the industry now.
21:33 - Chang Yung Hsiang takes the stage now, greeted by a standing ovation.
21:31 - Chang is the first screenwriter to win the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Golden Horse Awards.
21:29 - Li has worked on over 30 films with Chang.
21:28 - Kevin Chu and Li Hsing go on stage to present the Lifetime Achievement award to five-time Golden Horse-winning writer Chang Yung Hsiang.
Chang has written over 120 screenplays. I caught one of them - EXECUTION IN AUTUMN - last week in Taipei.
21:26 - Juliette Binoche just got caught yawning on camera.
21:23 - It’s great that the Hong Kong screenwriters are trying to speak Mandarin, but seriously, it’s OK to speak Cantonese.
21:21 - TRIVISA and CROSSCURRENT now tied at two awards each.
21:20 - And the winner of Best Original Screenplay is……..TRIVISA
21:18: CROSSCURRENT is the first film of the night to win more than one award.
Now it’s time for Best Original Screenplay.
21:14: Tian and Lee’s first award: Best Cinematography. (Chung Mong Hong’s nomination clip for extra cheers)Mark
And the winner is….CROSSCURRENT (Mark Lee).
This is Mark Lee’s seventh Golden Horse win. Lee’s younger brother accepts the award on his behalf.
This is also the second consecutive year for Lee to win, after he picked up the award for THE ASSASSIN last year.
21:11 - Tian Zhuangzhuang and jury member Angelica Lee now on stage to present the next awards.
Tian is one of the stars of Sylvia Chang’s recently wrapped film.
21:07 - Another commercial break as we go into hour three now.
21:05- Lin and Song stick around to present Best Animated Short Film. There’s no Best Animated Feature film nominee this year, by the way.
And the winner for Best Animated Short Film is…….Redic Hsu’s WANDER IN THE DARK
21:02 - Ying says that he based his film on two short stories by the same author, but he was unable to list the source material in the credits “due to the situation in Hong Kong.”
21:00 - Ariel Lin and Song Seung-heon on stage now to present Best Live Action Short Film.
Ariel Lin showing off her Korean skills. Nice.
And the winner is……..Ying Liang’s A SUNNY DAY.
This is Ying Liang’s first short film shot in Hong Kong.
20:57 - A quick recap of last night’s winners: THE SUMMER IS GONE for the FIPRESCI Award and I AM NOT MADAME BOVARY for the Audience Award.
20:55 - The Golden Horse Awards received over 500 submissions this year, setting a new record. The jury stands up for their time in the spotlight. Ann Hui is the jury president.
20:51 - Leah Dou (Faye Wong’s daughter) on stage now to perform the theme song from SOUL MATE, nominated for Best Original Song tonight.
20:43 - An hour and a half in, and no film has won more than one prize tonight. A really interesting race this year.
20:42 - Time for Best Supporting Actor now. The winner is…..Lin Po Hung for AT CAFE 6. Did not see that one coming, either.
Lin was a contestant on singing competition A MILLION STARS, which Tao hosted.
20:36 - Mei Feng is co-writer Huang Shi’s teacher at the Beijing Academy of Film. MR. NO PROBLEM is a teacher-student collaboration.
Mei Feng last won the Golden Horse for SPRING FEVER.
20:32 - Time for Best Adapted Screenplay. Sandra dares Peter Chan to just say SOUL MATE.
The winner is……MR. NO PROBLEM.
20:31 - “Only 12 people in Taiwan has seen it [he means the jury], because SOUL MATE can’t be distributed here - unless Derek Tsang wins Best Director tonight.” - Peter Chan. Films that win the Best Director or Best Film award at the Golden Horse can bypass the annual quota for Chinese films in Taiwan.
20:28 - Tao makes an effort to go shake the hands of the performers. Nice.
Next up are Peter Chan and Sandra Ng.
Chan’s production SOUL MATE has seven nominations. “How many people in Taiwan has seen it?” - Sandra asks in a hilarious Beijing-accent Mandarin.
20:24 - Zee Avi and Alvin Wee performing the theme song from OLA BOLA now.
Damn, I forgot to look for that OLA BOLA DVD when I was in Taiwan last weekend.
20:21 - With a few more technical awards on the way, we may not know which film is the frontrunner for some time.
20:20 - Another commercial break.
20:17 - And now the in memoriam segment, with an instrumental version of A BETTER TOMORROW’s theme song playing in the background.
20:15 - Elaine Jin is in tears. The last time she won a Golden Horse Award was 22 years ago for Edward Yang’s A CONFUCIAN CONFUSION.
20:14 - And the winner of Best Supporting Actress is….Elaine Jin for MAD WORLD.
20:11 - Fan presents another award. She recalls how she couldn’t make it to the ceremony the last time she was nominated and won Best Supporting Actress for THE MATRIMONY.
Fan now presents Best Supporting Actress.
20:08 - In case you’re keeping count. CROSSCURRENT at one, TRIVISA at one, LE MOULIN at one, MOJIN THE LOST LEGEND at one, DETECTIVE CHINATOWN at one, and THE SUMMER IS GONE at one.
20:07 - Fan is presenting Best Sound Effects.
The winner is…….CROSSCURRENT
20:05 - Nadow joins Tao on the stage now to introduce the next presenter: Fan Bingbing. Nadow runs up to escort her to the microphone.
Fan is nominated for Best Actress tonight for I AM NOT MADAME BOVARY.
20:00 - Second commercial break now.
19:59 - Producer of LE MOULIN gives a shout out in support of legalizing same sex marriage on stage, then reads a speech written by Huang, who’s not at the ceremony tonight.
19:58 - I don’t think I’ve ever seen Michael Hui more nervous when he was trying to say “Best Documentary” in Mandarin.
19:56 - Hui sticks around to present Best Documentary.
And the winner of Best Documentary is…..LE MOULIN by Huang Ya Li. Sorry, Umbrella Movement movie.
19:55 - “Thanks to the director for giving me a chance to become famous”– Kong Weiyi
19:54 - Hui needs a little help pronouncing the winner’s name in Mandarin.
And the winner of Best New Performer is……Kong Weiyi for THE SUMMER IS GONE. Kong gets a cute little pedestal to speak.
19:52 - Hui is present Best New Performer tonight. WEEDS ON FIRE clips included a Cantonese cuss word, by the way.
19:50 - “I was nominated for the Golden Horse and lost to Li Hsing. I thought i would get a lot of nominations, but then I waited for 38 years. How was the last 38 years for you guys?” - Michael Hui.
19:49 - Nadow goes on stage to get rid of some chairs so Tao can speak to Best Actor nominee Michael Hui.
Tao invites Hui onstage to present an award.
19:47 - Joseph Chang, Rhydian Vaughan and Gwei Lun Mei are sitting together. Mind blown.
Performance over. Best Supporting Actor nominee Nadow speak to Tao now.
Nadow is best known in Taiwan as a comedian, which is why he didn’t even expect to be nominated tonight.
19:44 - By the way, tonight’s award ceremony is taking place in Taipei’s Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall. No real reason to bring it up. Just killing time.
19:39 - Back from commercial break. Stephanie Sun now on stage to perform.
Sun doesn’t seem to be on her A game with her tonight.
19:33 - First commercial break of the night. It’s time for more pizza.
19:32 - Winner, action choreographer Wu Gang, reveals that Wang Baoqiang had to spend the entire shoot on an injured leg.
Wu Gang was a second generation member of Jackie Chan’s stunt team.The team is now in its 8th generation.
19:31 - And the winner of Best Action Choreography is….DETECTIVE CHINATOWN. Didn’t see that one coming.
19:30 - Ren and Lam stay around for their third award: Best Action Choreography.
Lam Suet jokes that he never has to do any action because he’s always the supporting actor.
19:28 - No one’s getting played off the stage, because Golden Horse is cool like that.
19:23 - Ren and Lam stay to present the Best Visual Effects awards.
And the winner for Best Visual Effects is……MOJIN - THE LOST LEGEND.
19:21 - David Richardson isn’t present tonight. Co-nominee Allen Leung accepts the award and gives his speech in Cantonese. Yau Nai-hoi stands at his side and gives a short speech on David Richardson’s behalf.
Richie Ren: “I don’t have to translate, right?”
19:19 - Best Film Editing is the first award of the night.
And the winner is……TRIVISA! Totally deserved in my book.
19:17 - Tao connects as many dots as possible with a very professional, eloquent introduction, skipping the over-the-top jokes.
Lam Suet and Richie Ren presenting the first award of the night.
Lam Suet asks Ren to bring out some vases for the judges - That’s a TRIVISA joke.
19:16 - Johnnie To didn’t make it to the awards, despite being nominated. His TRIVISA directors are present at the ceremony, though.
19:15 - Eric Tsang and Peter Chan are just separated by a set of stairs. Chan produced SOUL MATE, Derek Tsang’s solo directorial debut. Of course, Eric Tsang and Peter Chan have worked together for years.
19:14 - [About Derek Tsang] “He started in catering and worked his way up for 15 years. No one gets into the Golden Horse using their fathers.”
19:13 - “This year is about passing the torch. There were 85 new directors in the submissions this year.”
19:11 - Matilda Tao, the host for tonight’s ceremony takes the stage. She’s an old-school veteran television host. Very professional.
19:09 - Now a montage of the nominees.
19:06 - The awards begin with Chang Chen on stage speaking about his experience on Edward Yang’s A BRIGHTER SUMMER DAY
A BRIGHTER SUMMER DAY was his first film. 2016 marks its 25th anniversary.
The cast and crew of the film now join Chang on stage.
19:03 - Shu Qi being oddly awkward on the red carpet, not really answering anything for some reason.
Oh, look it’s Juliette Binoche.
19:00 - Here we go! The 53rd Golden Horse Awards has officially begun….and we’re still on the red carpet.
Shu Qi making her way down the red carpet now.
18:57 - Star Movies Chinese here in Hong Kong has TRIVISA lined up as the post-awards movie. I really hope that it does win something.
18:53 - I neglected to mention one film in my preview: SOUL MATE. The friendship drama has been gathering some traction locally and may pick up a surprise award or two. Zhou Dongyu is really great in it.
18:50 - 10 minutes away. Be sure to take a look at the list of nominees to follow along tonight.
18:40: And we’re off! Star Chinese Movies is still showing DETECTIVE CHINATOWN, but some of the awards have already been decided:
The Audience Award goes to I AM NOT MADAME BOVARY
The FIPRESCI Prize goes to SUMMER IS GONE
The Lifetime Achievement Award goes to scriptwriter Chang Yung-Hsiang