Actor and director Lee Hong-chi (李鴻其) on Saturday won the Lion of the Future Luigi De Laurentiis award for best debut work with Love is a Gun (愛是一把槍) at the 80th Venice International Film Festival.
The movie was the first Taiwanese film to win the award and Lee, 33, was the first Taiwanese winner at the festival after director Tsai Ming-liang (蔡明亮) won the Grand Jury Prize for Stray Dogs (郊遊) at the 70th Venice Film Festival 10 years ago.
“Many Chinese-language film masters and seniors have stood on this stage in the past. They have deeply influenced the worldview of my films. They are all role models for me to learn from,” he said.
Photo: EPA-EFE
He thanked the judges for the honor and the encouragement, as well as his team and family for supporting him along the way.
“Without them, I wouldn’t have been able to make this movie. I will continue to work hard and keep filming,” he said.
Love is a Gun tells a story about the difficulties encountered by young people in a society struggling in the post-COVID-19-pandemic era.
A young man played by Lee wants to start a new life after being released from prison, but is pulled back into his past by friends and family.
Lee won best actor at the 17th Taipei Film Awards and best new performer at the 52nd Golden Horse Film Awards, with his role of Rat in the 2015 movie Thanatos, Drunk (醉生夢死).
After acting for six years, he earned immediate recognition in his directorial debut.
Film critic Eric Lavallee praised Love is a Gun.
“Channeling ethereal qualities akin to Lee Chang-dong’s Burning and some portraits crafted by Jia Zhang-ke (賈樟柯), this film encapsulates the sensation of perpetually treading water, never breaking free from its embrace,” Lavallee said.
The film is to be released in Taiwan by Hooray Films in December.
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