By APA Staff
Lust, Caution dominates Golden Horse Awards
At Taiwan's Golden Horse Awards -- often regarded as the Oscars of Chinese-language cinema -- Ang Lee's Lust, Caution pulled in title after title for a total of seven awards, including best director for Ang Lee, best actor for male lead Tony Leung Chiu-wai, and best make-up and costume design for Pan Lai. Female lead Tang Wei was named best newcomer, while her co-star Joan Chen, who played a supporting role in Lust, Caution, received the award for best actress for her lead in Tony Ayres' The Home Song Stories. Best supporting actor was Tony Leung Ka-Fai in The Drummer, while best supporting actress was Fan Bingbing for The Matrimony. For best documentary, Arthur Dong's Hollywood Chinese was honored for its exploration of Chinese representation in American feature films. Although not technically a Chinese-language film, the documentary met specific requirements for content, cast, and crew. Also, everyone's favorite heartthrob Jay Chou's Secret received awards for most outstanding Taiwanese film of the year and best original film song, a fitting recognition for the pop star's directorial debut. --JoJo Yang
Return to Khiladi Again!
Comedy and action star Akshay Kumar will take the lead in another film from his Khiladi series titled Return to Khiladi. The name of the movie is a reference to the hugely successful Om Shanti Om, in which Kumar has a cameo as an actor nominated for a Filmfare Award for playing a cop in the action film Khiladi Returns. The first four films in the Khiladi series were box office hits in Bollywood, however, the recent Khiladi films did not do so well. Given the popularity of Kumar's cameo in Om Shanti Om, this new installment of Khidali may revamp the series and inspire more sequels to this action packed collection. --Richard Park
Chinese government "bans" Hollywood films
Chinese authorities have suspended the release of Hollywood films for the next three months. The "ban" began on December 1 and will continue until the end of February, with a possible extension until May. The order came from higher up than the State Administration for Film Radio and Television or the Film Bureau, the two organizations that usually handle movie industry policy; likely the order came from within the Propaganda Ministry. Speculation is that the ban will last until after the Chinese New Year celebration in early February, with the airing of the usual marathon show on CCTV. When contacted by Daily Variety, China Film denied the existence of a ban: a spokesman said, "There's no such thing. We've never heard anything about this." The ban, or extended prohibition of the release of American films, indicates a growing rift between China and the US, signaled earlier this year by China's disapproval of US sale of weapons to Taiwan and Congress's honoring of the Dalai Lama. Another possibility is that the move is retaliation against the WTO's intellectual property and piracy case against China, or simply another exercise of massaging figures for local films' success at the box office. US studio distribution execs have had no comment, but we're interested in seeing what they have to say later on. --JoJo Yang
Yaguchi returns to directing after three-year hiatus
Swing Girls director Shinobu Yaguchi announced his tentatively-titled film, Happy Flight, after having been absent from filmmaking for three years. The comedy focuses on characters who board a plane for an airline's first international flight leaving Japan to Honolulu. In researching the film with the help of ANA (All Nippon Airways), Yaguchi said, "I've found it really fun to do the research, such as places that even the cabin attendants don't see and the way extra members of the flight crew sleep in the cockpit." Filming is set to begin in April and a theatrical release is set for fall of next year. In addition to directing the 2004 Swing Girls, Yaguchi is also the director of the 2001 hit Waterboys. --LiAnn Ishizuka
Home Song Stories wins in Australia
Tony Ayres' The Home Song Stories continues to reel in the prizes during the Australian awards season, topping five of six categories at the Australian Film Institute Industry Awards. Home Song Stories follows the story of Rose, played by Joan Chen, a glamorous Shanghai nightclub singer who struggles to survive in 1970s Australia with two children. The five awards included best cinematography (Nigel Buck), editing (Denise Haratzis), original music score (Anthony Partos), production design (Melinda Doring), and costume design (Cappi Ireland). But this is only the beginning, as this industry awards ceremony is a precursor to the main awards, at which Home Song Stories is up for another six awards, including best film. Home Song Stories is also Australia's entry in the Oscars for best foreign film. --JoJo Yang
Japan's First Annual Pocket Films Festival
Japan celebrated its First Pocket Film Festival on the 7th, 8th, and 9th of December to highlight a budding art form. The films were showcased from actual cell phones placed on tables and were mostly from Japanese "filmmakers" -- films such as Thumb Girl, Walkers, and Passerby -- but foreign films were also received, as well as Singapore's Seeking Truth and South Korea's Remember. The mini movies were of four to nine minutes in length, and even though they had poor visual quality, the amateur look gave them an "artsy" feel. The very first Pocket Films Festival was started in France in October 2005, and in association with the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music and the Forum des images of Paris, the festival debuted in Japan this year. Now we can all make movies conveniently with our cell phones -- and maybe even win an award. --Richard Park
Singaporean director to tell tale of beauty
Untold Beauty, a supernatural romance, marks numerous firsts for Singaporean cinema. It is the debut film from writer-director Roy Lim. It is also the first Singaporean movie to be pre-sold to France as shooting is set to begin in Singapore next month. Untold Beauty imagines love, loss, and death through the story of a Chinese embalmer who has a numb attitude toward death until his girlfriend becomes fatally ill. Taiwanese actor Wing Fan Chih Wei, a best actor nominee at the Golden Horse Awards, plays the lead alongside ingénue Jesseca Liu. --Lisa Leong
First-timers awarded
The Indian film industry received three awards at the The Third Asian Festival of First Films for Best Film, Best Director, and Best Female Performance. Best Director and Best Female Performance went to Kabir Khan and Mamatha Bhukya respectively, while Bhavna Talwar's Dharm shared the Best Film award with Australia's Lucky Miles helmed by Jo and Lesley Dyer. Batzul Khayankhyarvaa of Mongolia won the Best Male Performance award for his part in the film Khadak while the Best Screenplay and Best Cinematography went to the two China's, Fen Fen Cheng of Taiwan for Keeping Watch and Hu Linping's Family on the Sky Lake from the mainland. Asian Festival of First Films celebrates first-time producers, directors, writers, cinematographers, actors, and documentary makers throughout Asia. This year the celebration was held in Singapore from November 27th to December 4th. --Richard Park