A three-hour gala awards ceremony for the 11th annual Huabiao
film awards was held in Beijing yesterday, helping to mark a
century of Chinese cinema, a day after the Feitian television
awards were presented.
The film award jury gave Best Actor to Wu Jun and Pu Cunxin for
their convincing lead roles in Model Solider Zhang Side
and A Bright Moon, a biopic about Buddhist Master the
Reverend Hong Yi.
Best Actress was shared by Zhao Wei and Zhang Ziyi for their
performances in Huo Jianqi's Time to Love and Zhang
Yimou's House of Flying Daggers.
Lu Chuan and Yin Li shared the Best Director commendation for
Kekexili: Mountain Patrol and Model Solider Zhang
Side.
Ten director's newest films, including Kekexili: Mountain
Patrol, Legend of Chen Yun, Model Cop Ren
Changxia and Deng Xiaoping in 1928, shared Best
Picture.
The awards, organized by the State Administration of Radio, Film
and Television (SARFT), are named after the decorative columns in
front of the Palace Museum (also known as the Forbidden City).
A total of 212 Chinese films were made last year, according to
SARFT, and total box office revenues amounted to 1.5 billion yuan
(US$185 million), up 50 percent on 2003.
The day before, the SARFT 25th Feitian awards for
domestically-produced TV shows were also presented in Beijing.
Best Actor was shared by Zhang Fengyi and Chen Baoguo, while
Best Actress went to 78-year-old Lu Yuan.
(China Daily August 29, 2005)
