Wong Kar Wai's The Grandmaster dominates this year's list of nominees for Taiwan's Golden Horse Awards, which were announced today in Taipei.
The Hong Kong auteur's elegant work of martial arts hagiography earned 11 nominations, including best film, best director, best actor, best actress and best cinematography.
Also making a strong showing is Chinese director Jia Zhangke's A Touch of Sin, which played to acclaim at this year's Cannes Film Festival, where it won the best screenplay award. Jia's multinarrative meditation on the violence and dehumanizing undercurrents of China's breakneck economic development earned six nominations, including best film, best director and best original screenplay.
Debut Singaporean director Anthony Chen's Ilo Ilo -- a subtle domestic drama about a middle class Singaporean family who hire a Filipino maid to care for their son during the 1990s Asian financial crisis -- also nabbed six noms, including best director and best film. The film won the Camera d'Or at Cannes this year -- a first for Singapore -- and is the city state's official nomination for the foreign language category at next year's Oscars.
Three other titles earned six nominations: Feng Xiaogang's famine epic, Back to 1942, Dante Lam's MMA actioner, Unbeatable, and Stephen Chow's Chinese box-office smash hit Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons.
The Golden Horse Awards, celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, will be held in Taipei on Nov. 23, with hometown hero Ang Lee presiding over this year's jury as president.
Japan-born Taiwanese screen legend Chen Chen will receive the event's lifetime achievement award.
See below for the list of nominees in major categories.
Best Feature Film
Drug War (China/Hong Kong)
The Grandmaster (Hong Kong/China)
Ilo Ilo (Singapore)
Stray Dogs (Taiwan)
Touch of Sin (China/Japan)
Best Director
Chung Mong-hong, Soul
Jia Zhangke, Touch of Sin
Johnnie To, Drug War
Tsai Ming-liang, Stray Dogs
Wong Kar-wai, The Grandmaster
Best New Director
Anthony Chen, Ilo Ilo
Hsu Chao-jen, Together
Longman Leung, Sunny Luk, Cold War
Juno Mak, Rigor Mortis
Zhao Wei, So Young
Best Leading Actor
Nick Cheung, Unbeatable
Lee Kang-sheng; Stray Dogs
Tony Leung Chiu-wai, The Grandmaster
Tony Leung Ka-fai, Cold War
Jimmy Wang, Soul
Best Leading Actress
Sammi Cheng, Blind Detective
Gwei Lun-mei, Christmas Rose
Cherry Ngan, The Way We Dance
Shu Qi, Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons
Zhang Ziyi, The Grandmaster
Best Supporting Actor
Chen Tian Wen, Ilo Ilo
Huang Bo, Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons
LI Xuejian, Back to 1942
Eddie Peng, Unbeatable
Tong Dawei, American Dreams in China
Best Supporting Actress
Crystal Lee, Unbeatable
Lin Mei-hsiu, To My Dear Granny
Susan Shaw, Tales from the Dark Part 1
Xue Hong, Longing for the Rain
Yeo Yann Yann, Ilo Ilo
Best New Performer
Dong Zijian, Young Style
Huang Shao-yang, Together
Koh Jia Ler, Ilo Ilo
Kuo Shu-yau, Step Back to Glory
Yang Liang-yu, A Time in Quchi
Best Original Screenplay
Anthony Chen; Ilo Ilo
Robert Chou, Zhang Ji, Aubrey Lam, American Dreams in China
Arthur Chu, To My Dear Granny
Jia Zhangke, A Touch of Sin
Wai Ka-fai, Yau Nai-hoi, Ryker Chan, Yu Xi, Drug War
Best Adapted Screenplay
Stephen Chow, Derek Kwok, Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons
Li Qiang, So Young
Liu Zhenyun, Back to 1942
Outstanding Taiwanese Filmmaker of the Year
Yeh Ju-Feng
Liao Ching-Song
Tsai Ming-Hsiu