Good news for fans of Zhang Yimou. His latest film Shadow, which we quite liked at TIFF, leads the 55th annual Golden Horse nominations which focus on Chinese language cinema. The higher Shadow's profile gets the more eyeballs it will theoretically find once Well Go, releases it in US theaters. It's definitely worth seeing in a movie theater since it's a visual spectacle. China still hasn't named their Oscar submission so we hope it's going to be Shadow which was released at home yesterday, the last day of eligibility for Oscar's Foreign Language Film submission requirements.
Interestingly enough, Hong Kong's Oscar submission Operation Red Sea received NO nominations whatsoever.
A full list of Golden Horse nominations is after the jump with links to reviews for the few films we've seen...
BEST FEATURE
Roy Chiu stars as a gay man in "Dear Ex"
- Dear Ex
A drama about a family dealing with the realization that their deceased dad had a gay lover - Dying To Survive
A dramedy that tells the true story of a man smuggling cheap unproven medicine into China for leukemia patients - Elephant Sitting Still
A four hour drama about a group of lost souls obsessed with the legend of an elephant that simply ignores the world in a Northern Chinese city - Long Day's Journey Into Night
Bi Gan's romantic drama about a man remembering a mysterious woman - Shadow
Zhang Yimou's historical drama about the Three Kingdoms era in China, and a secretive dying commander with a healthy doppleganger who is influencing a vain and foolish king
Best Director
Zhang Yimou on the set of "Shadow"
- Zhang Yimou, Shadow
- Bi Gan, Long Day's Journey Into Night
- Jiang Wen, Hidden Man
- Pema Tseden, Jinpa
- Lou Ye, The Shadow Play
Best Leading Actress
- Hsieh Ying-xuan, Dear Ex
- Sun Li, Shadow
- Zhao To, Ash is Purest White
- Zeng Meihuizi, Three Husbands
- Zhou Xun, Last Letter
Best Leading Actor
Duan Yihong stars in "The Looming Storm"
- Duan Yihong, The Looming Storm
- Roy Chiu, Dear Ex
- Deng Chao, Shadow
- Xu Zheng, Dying to Survive
- Peng Yuchang, An Elephant Sitting Still
Best Supporting Actress
Kara Wai in "Tracey"
- Ding Ning, Cities of Last Things
- Kara Wai, Tracey
- Xu Quing, Hidden Man
- Phoebe Huang, Dad's Suit
- Zhang Zifeng, Last Letter
Best Supporting Actor
Hong Chi-Lee is one of the stars of "Cities of Last Things" which starts with a suicide and goes backwards in time to see what led to it
- Lee Hong-chi, Cities of Last Things
- Cheng Jen-shuo, Gatao 2: Rise of the King
- Zhang Yu, Dying to Survive
- Tian Zhuang-zhuang, Us and Them
- Ben Yuen, Tracey
Best New Director
- Dong Yue, The Looming Storm
- Mag Hsu and Hsu Chih-Yen, Dear Ex
- Wen Muye, Dying to Survive
- Rene Liu, Us and Them
- Hu Bo, An Elephant Sitting Still (posthumous nomination)
Best New Performer
Fu Meng-po is the son in "Father to Son"
- Joseph Huang, Dear Ex
- Hsieh Chang-ying, Cities of Last Things
- Zhang Zaixing, Gatao 2: Rise of the King
- Si Panogoyod, Long Time No Sea
- Fu Meng-po, Father to Son
Best Original Screenplay
- The Looming Storm
- Dear Ex
- Cities of Last Things
- Dying to Survive
- Last Letter
Best Adapted Screenplay
- On Happiness Road
- Shadow
- Us and Them
- Jinpa
- An Elephant Sitting Still
Best Cinematography
- Shadow
- Xiao Mei
- Long Day's Journey Into Night
- An Elephant Sitting Still
- The Shadow Play
Best Visual Effects
- Shadow
- Monster Hunt 2
- Hidden Man
- Legend of the Demon Cat
- Detective Dee: Four Heavenly Kings
Best Art Direction
- The Looming Storm
- Shadow
- Hidden Man
- Legend of the Demon Cat
- Father to Son
Best Makeup and Costume Design
- The Looming Storm
- Shadow
- Dying to Survive
- Hidden Man
- Legend of the Demon Cat
Best Action Choreography
- Shadow
- Monster Hunt 2
- Master Z: The Ip Man Legacy
- Hidden Man
- The Shadow Play
Best Original Score
- Shadow
- Xiao Mei
- Long Day
- Father to Son
- An Elephant Sitting Still
Best Original Song
- "Bali Song" - Dear Ex
- "Excuse you, Boss" - Gatao 2: Rise of the King
- "Light Echo" - Xiao Mei
- "Us" -Us and Them
- "Keep the Heart Out of it" - Father to Son
Best Film Editing
- Four Springs
- Our Youth in Taiwan
- Dear Ex
- Dying to Survive
- Us and Them
Best Sound Effects
Shadow
- The Looming Storm
- Shadow
- Long Day's Journey Into Night
- Father to Son
- The Shadow Play
Best Documentary
- Four Springs
- Our Youth in Taiwan
- Late Life: The Chien-Ming Wang Story
- 24th Street
- Umbrella Diaries: The First Umbrella
Best Animated Feature
- Cats and Peachtopia
- On Happiness Road
- A Dog's Life
Best Live Action Short
- 02-06
- Temporary
- Brotherhood
- A Final Reunion
- My World
Best Animated Short
- Si So Mi
- Where Am I Going?
- Infidelity
- Muteum
- Kin's Hair
Outstanding Taiwanese Filmmaker of the Year
- Saburo Liu
Special Contribution Award
- Liao Ching-sung