A looming typhoon and lack of star power is threatening to put a damper on the traditionally glittering Chinese-language movie "Oscars" in Taichung, organizers said on the eve of today's event.
The cream of Asian acting talent is among more than 100 nominees up for prizes at the 41st annual Golden Horse Film Awards today, but Zhang Ziyi (
Hong Kong heart-throb Andy Lau (
About half the nominees will be missing from the showcase event due to their hectic shooting schedules ahead of the busy Lunar New Year film program, Wang Ching-hua (
But Wang said he was more concerned by the threat of having the red carpet reception -- the so-called Star Boulevard -- washed out by a typhoon.
"It is quite common that the more popular stars are absent as they might be busier making movies during this time of year. However, we are more concerned about the coming typhoon that might jeopardize the Star Boulevard event," Wang said.
"If the storm hits really hard ... or dumps too much rain, then we will have to cancel the Star Boulevard," he said.
The Golden Horse Film Awards showcases cinematic talent from Taiwan, Hong Kong, China, Malaysia and Singapore.
Lau -- who missed out on the best actor award last year after being nominated for Infernal Affairs I -- has been given another nod for his role Infernal Affairs 3, but faces stiff competition from fellow Hong Kong actors Leung (2046) and Jacky Cheung (
Internationally-acclaimed Hong Kong director Wong Kar-wai (
The nominees for best director include three from Hong Kong -- Fruit Chan (
But 2046 is still favorite to win best film over Breaking News, One Nite in Mongkok, Kekexili and Taiwan's The Moon Also Rises.
Noted Taiwanese model Lin Chih-ling (
Taiwan's two Athens' Olympics medalists in taekwondo, noted Chinese-American violinist Chen Mae (
Chen Mae is scheduled to play a number of electric violins that have never been played before, Wang said.
A group of Taiwanese-American and Tibetan-American students at Harvard University on Saturday disrupted Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng’s (謝鋒) speech at the school, accusing him of being responsible for numerous human rights violations. Four students — two Taiwanese Americans and two from Tibet — held up banners inside a conference hall where Xie was delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the Harvard Kennedy School China Conference 2024. In a video clip provided by the Coalition of Students Resisting the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), Taiwanese-American Cosette Wu (吳亭樺) and Tibetan-American Tsering Yangchen are seen holding banners that together read:
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