Stars from China, Hong Kong and Taiwan gathered yesterday for this year’s Golden Horse Film Awards, the “Oscars” of Chinese-language cinema.
Chinese actress Xu Fan (徐帆), Taiwanese actress Lin Chi-ling (林志玲) and heartthrob Ethan Juan (阮經天) were among the performers walking down the red carpet ahead of the gala ceremony in Taoyuan.
Hong Kong’s Teddy Chan (陳德森), director of Bodyguards and Assassins (十月圍城) joined the film’s two leading men, Chinese veteran Wang Xueqi (王學圻) and Nicholas Tse (謝霆鋒) of Hong Kong, at the ceremony.
PHOTO: CNA
From Hong Kong, Golden Horse-winning actors Tony Leung (梁家輝), Nick Cheung (張家輝) and kung fu master Sammo Hung (洪金寶), who has two nods for best action choreography, also lent their star power to the proceedings.
More than 30 films were nominated in the 47th edition of the Golden Horse Awards, which are styled after the US Academy Awards, but are decided by a jury along the lines of the Cannes film festival.
As of press time, actress Lee Chien-na (李千娜) had been announced as the winner of the Best New Performer category, while actor Wu Peng-fon (吳朋奉) won Best Supporting Actor for his role in the Seven Days in Heaven (父後七日).
Hao Lei (郝蕾) from China won the Best Supporting Actress for her role in The Fourth Portrait (第四張畫).
Hung, meanwhile, won the Best Action Choreography category for Ip Man 2 (葉問2).
When Love Comes (當愛來的時候) won the Best Cinematography.
Taipei Exchanges (第36個故事) won the Best Original Film Song, while Hip-Hop Storm (街舞狂潮) won for Best Documentary.
Alain Robert, known as the "French Spider-Man," praised Alex Honnold as exceptionally well-prepared after the US climber completed a free solo ascent of Taipei 101 yesterday. Robert said Honnold's ascent of the 508m-tall skyscraper in just more than one-and-a-half hours without using safety ropes or equipment was a remarkable achievement. "This is my life," he said in an interview conducted in French, adding that he liked the feeling of being "on the edge of danger." The 63-year-old Frenchman climbed Taipei 101 using ropes in December 2004, taking about four hours to reach the top. On a one-to-10 scale of difficulty, Robert said Taipei 101
Nipah virus infection is to be officially listed as a category 5 notifiable infectious disease in Taiwan in March, while clinical treatment guidelines are being formulated, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. With Nipah infections being reported in other countries and considering its relatively high fatality rate, the centers on Jan. 16 announced that it would be listed as a notifiable infectious disease to bolster the nation’s systematic early warning system and increase public awareness, the CDC said. Bangladesh reported four fatal cases last year in separate districts, with three linked to raw date palm sap consumption, CDC Epidemic Intelligence
US climber Alex Honnold left Taiwan this morning a day after completing a free-solo ascent of Taipei 101, a feat that drew cheers from onlookers and gained widespread international attention. Honnold yesterday scaled the 101-story skyscraper without a rope or safety harness. The climb — the highest urban free-solo ascent ever attempted — took just more than 90 minutes and was streamed live on Netflix. It was covered by major international news outlets including CNN, the New York Times, the Guardian and the Wall Street Journal. As Honnold prepared to leave Taiwan today, he attracted a crowd when he and his wife, Sanni,
Taiwanese and US defense groups are collaborating to introduce deployable, semi-autonomous manufacturing systems for drones and components in a boost to the nation’s supply chain resilience. Taiwan’s G-Tech Optroelectronics Corp subsidiary GTOC and the US’ Aerkomm Inc on Friday announced an agreement with fellow US-based Firestorm Lab to adopt the latter’s xCell, a technology featuring 3D printers fitted in 6.1m container units. The systems enable aerial platforms and parts to be produced in high volumes from dispersed nodes capable of rapid redeployment, to minimize the risk of enemy strikes and to meet field requirements, they said. Firestorm chief technology officer Ian Muceus said