On December 1st, the inaugural Golden Lion Awards ceremony was held in Singapore. This brand-new Chinese-language film award aims to recognize outstanding Chinese-language films from the past year, acknowledge the contributions and efforts of Chinese-language film professionals, and encourage innovation and progress in Chinese-language cinema.
That evening, the awards were announced, with Lau Ching-wan and Song Jia winning Best Actor and Best Actress respectively. "Breaking Inferno," which received the most nominations during the nomination phase, won Best Film.
In a time when film awards are not scarce, the Golden Lion Awards focus more on films that have achieved greater market impact and audience feedback in the Chinese-language film industry. The organizing committee hopes to select works and filmmakers that have contributed to the development of Chinese-language cinema by considering three dimensions: market influence, artistic achievement, and technological innovation.
Awards that balance art and industry
Due to the recent Hong Kong fires, the Golden Lion Awards cancelled its red carpet event to express condolences to the victims. Before presenting the awards, jury chairman Donnie Yen addressed the victims and led the audience in a moment of silence: "Every life lost breaks my heart. To all the families experiencing this unimaginable pain, we mourn with you, we are with you. To the brave firefighters, we extend our sincerest gratitude."
Judging from the distribution of awards that evening, the balance between artistic value and industrial standards became the most prominent feature of this year's awards.
Nominees for the inaugural Golden Lion Awards
"Break of Hell" was a hit during the nomination stage and ultimately stood out among many nominated films to win Best Film. Actor Chu Pak-hong won Best Supporting Actor; director Philip Yung won Best Director for "Dad"; and Lau Ching-wan won Best Actor for his superb performance in the film, his second win at the Hong Kong Film Awards.
Hao Lei and Anita Yuen presented the Best Actor award.
In the technical categories, "The Siege of Kowloon Walled City" won four awards: Best Cinematography, Best Action Choreography, Best Art Direction, and Best Sound Effects.
In the acting categories, Song Jia won Best Actress for her role in "Good Things" for the second time after winning the Golden Rooster Award, while Zhong Chuxi won Best Supporting Actress for the same film.
Best Actress Nominations
A new platform for Chinese-language films with an international perspective
The Golden Lion Awards are unique in their international perspective and focus on Chinese-language films. Director Li Shaohong explained at the press conference, "Holding a film awards ceremony for Chinese-language films in Singapore, with nominations including films from both sides of the Taiwan Strait, is particularly meaningful to me."
The Golden Lion Awards selected films from the Chinese-speaking regions made between June of last year and June of this year for consideration. Li Shaohong commented, "The overall film environment from last year to this year has been extremely challenging. For our industry, not only the Chinese-speaking regions, but the global film market is currently experiencing a 'winter.' However, from last year to this year, mainland China and Hong Kong have seen a significant surge in film production, producing many excellent films, providing a solid foundation for our competition." She stated that many of the nominated films had already won awards at other major film festivals, but putting these top-quality films from each region on the same platform for mutual exchange will generate new perspectives and reflections. "This truly encourages these filmmakers who are still striving to make what they consider to be the best films."
Li Shaohong
At the press conference that day, Hao Lei responded to questions about the judges' preferences and the award mechanism, mentioning a previous WeChat post that seemed to subtly criticize Xin Zhilei for winning the Venice Film Festival's Best Actress award. Hao Lei clarified that it was a complete misunderstanding and that she wasn't referring to Xin Zhilei at all. She also shared her own observations and thoughts on film awards.
“Many of the so-called behind-the-scenes mechanisms are actually invisible to the public. Even if some parts are now brought to the public's attention, the truly unseen parts are still very complex,” Hao Lei said. She added that winning awards requires a certain amount of luck. “Whether a film can win an award sometimes depends on whether it encounters a judge who really likes it. I also have my own likes and dislikes. I like performances that move me and are sincere and genuine. Some performances that emphasize technique may not be my cup of tea, but that doesn't mean they're wrong. Some judges prefer performances where technique comes first, and we can't say that's not a good performance. So that's about luck.” Hao Lei added that she always judges based on two things: “Professionalism and artistic conscience.”
Another judge, Vincent Fang, detailed the judging process to the media: "Yesterday's closed-door meeting was quite interesting; everyone's phones were confiscated. The 17 awards were thoroughly discussed. Some were evenly matched, while others were one-sided, and several awards advanced to the second round." Anita Yuen, serving as a judge for the first time, said that being on the judging panel made her more eloquent, as she wanted to strive to win more for her favorite films, but she also gained more perspectives from the other judges.
Group photo at the judges' meeting
Wu Bei, vice chairman of the organizing committee of this year's Chinese Film Golden Lion Awards, said, "Our goal is to become an influential Chinese-language professional film award overseas, bringing everyone together in the current film environment to promote the development and progress of Chinese-language films."
Winners of the Inaugural Chinese Film Golden Lion Awards
Best Film: Breaking Hell
Best Director: Philip Yung
Best Actor for "Dad" - Lau Ching-wan
Best Actress for "Good Things" - Song Jia
Best Supporting Actor: Chu Po-Kang (from "Breaking Hell")
Best Supporting Actress: Zhong Chuxi (for "Good Things")
Best Newcomer: Li Luoan (from "The Love That Never Speaks")
Best Screenplay: Father (by Philip Yung)
Best Cinematography: Kowloon Walled City (The Siege) - Cheng Siu-keung
Best Editing: "Dad" - Shi Shanying
Best action choreography for *Kowloon Walled City: Siege* - Kenji Tanigaki
Best Costume Design: Zhang Shijie for "Detective Chinatown 1900"
Best Art Direction for "The Siege of Kowloon Walled City" - Mak Kwok-keung & Chow Sai-hung
Best visual effects in "Detective Chinatown 1900" - Xu Mingjun
Best sound effects for "The Siege of Kowloon Walled City" - Yao Junxuan, Zhang Wenkai, Du Benli
Best Original Film Score: "Dad" by Ding Ke
Best Original Film Song: "Breaking Hell" and "Saving All Beings"
Asian Film of the Year (Non-Chinese Language): *Grandma's Grandson*
