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Oscar winner Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain) with Golden Horse Best Director Jun Li (Queerpanorama). They both won Best Director prizes for gay dramas!
I don't know why I torture myself covering the Golden Horse Awards each year as there are so many films I'm never able to see (or forget about by the time they do become available stateside). Neverthless the Taiwanese awards are among my favourite races to follow in international cinema. I hope to catch up with four of the winners in particular: A Foggy Tale, Queerpanorama, Mother Bhumi, and Lucky Lu. The ceremony was held on November 22nd. Here are the nominations and wins for their 62nd annual edition with some commentary and some random trivia including a Chappel Roan connection (How very random!)...
Today's Golden Horse Awards, the Chinese-Taiwanese Oscars, spread the wealth. Superstar Andy Lau (A Simple Life, Infernal Affairs, House of the Flying Daggers) had the honor of presenting Best Picture. It went to Beijing Blues but Beijing hardly dominated. Every BP Contender took home at least one prize and some of them major.
I watched a bit of the ceremony live on the web even though I speak no Cantonese, Mandarin or Taiwanese. Awards shows are -- you'll never believe this -- a source of endless fascination to me. Yes, even if I have no clue what's going on.
I was told at one point though that the producers were asking the hosts to ad lib more since the ceremony was running short -- imagine it! Otherwise awards ceremonies speak a universal language. Consider the Best Actress category: silly presenter banter, 5 nominees, a mix of teary and elegant and 'why did they pick that?' clips, tense multi-camera grid as the winner is announced, and a tearful young beauty winning the big prize.
Also, just like it would happen at the Oscars, her equally pretty young male co-star (Joseph Chang) lost the counterpart male category to a mature and well respected character actor who'd paid his dues. The gender rules of awardage appear to be universal, too!
THE WINNERS Best PictureBeijing Blues (pictured left) is a drama about a detective catching thieves Audience ChoiceGf*Bf (a popular youth-oriented romantic drama) Best Director Johnny To Life Without Principle (Hong Kong's Oscar submission) Best Actress Gwei Lun-Mei Gf*Bf Best Actor Ching Wan Lau Life Without Principle Best Supporting Actress Liang Jing Design of Death Best Supporting Actor Ronald Cheng Vulgaria Best New Performer Qi Xi Mystery
Sunday, November 23, 2025 at 11:00PM 
Oscar winner Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain) with Golden Horse Best Director Jun Li (Queerpanorama). They both won Best Director prizes for gay dramas!
