Film scholar and former director of Taiwan’s Film Archive Huang Jianye is set to chair the jury for the 58th iteration of the Taipei-based Golden Horse Awards, the festival said Wednesday.
The awards are now heading into the third year without participants from China after a controversial awards speech in 2018 included mentions of Taiwanese independence. The comments led Beijing to order its citizens to make a hasty retreat that year and impose a ban on attending what had once been known as the Oscars of Asia.
Without China’s presence, the Golden Horse Awards have shrunk in scope, but are still soldiering on. Festival screenings are set to begin Nov. 11 ahead of the awards ceremony on Nov. 27 in Taipei.
Joining Huang on the jury this year will be Japanese producer Osaka Fumiko, a frequent collaborator of Hou Hsiao-hsien and Jia Zhangke; producer Lee Lieh (“Jump! Ashin,” “Detention”); director Chen Yu-Hsun (“My Missing Valentine”); Taiwanese film and TV director Yang Ya-che (“Girlfriend, Boyfriend”), Malaysian director and screenwriter Chong Keat-aun; president of the Hong Kong Film Critics Society Cecilia Wong Lai-ming; screenwriter and producer Lu Shih-yuan (“Dear Ex”); Taiwanese American director Arvin Chen (“Au Revoir Taipei”); animation director Joe Hsieh (“Night”); actor and director Hsu Chieh-Huei; art director Huang Wenying; sound designer Dennis Tsao (“Detention,” “Days”); author and TV host Ma Shih Fang and Hou’s long-time chief lighting technician Tan Jiliang.
Meanwhile, Chinese American actress Bai Ling, Malaysian actress Angelica Lee (“The Garden of Evening Mists”) and Singaporean comedian Mark Lee will be among the few guests attending the event from overseas, and will serve as awards presenters.
Bai was shortlisted last year for best actress at the festival for her work in “Abortionist,” while Mark Lee won a best actor nod for his role as a drag queen in comedic drama “Number 1.”
This year, Hong Kong homelessness drama “Drifting” leads the pack of nominees with 12 nominations including best narrative feature, best director, best actor and best adapted screenplay. Other top titles include “The Falls,” “Till We Meet Again” and crime thriller “The Soul,” each of which received 11 nominations.