Takeshi Kaneshiro earns first Golden Horse acting nomination

The 54th Golden Horse Awards announced its list of nominees yesterday on Oct 1 with close to 100 new directors signing up in the hopes of getting nominated. This year, out of 576 movies, only 36 movies were selected.

Taiwanese horror film, The Tag-Along 2, which was the top domestic box office hit this year, was nominated for three categories - Best Sound Effects, Best Supporting Actress and Best New Performer. However, its director, Cheng Wei-hao, and female lead, Rainie Yang did not make the cut despite the Executive Director of the Golden Horse Executive Committee, Wen Tianxiang, revealing that Rainie was actually up for consideration.

Tianxiang praised Rainie’s acting but said that she was unable to advance through to the final round due to the stiff competition. The committee felt that her supporting cast members such as Tiffany Hsu and Francesca Kao were very outstanding and even outshone Rainie at times.

A similar incident had previously occurred in 2011 where both the male lead actor (Eddie Peng) and supporting actor (Lawrence Ko) performed brilliantly in the sports drama Jump Ashin!, making it difficult to come to a decision.

Rainie Yang and Tiffany Hsu in Who Killed Cock Robin and The Tag-Along 2.

Tianxiang then went on to praise Tiffany and felt that her role in Who Killed Cock Robin was very impressive as well, causing him to face a dilemma over which movie he should pick for the actress to be nominated for the role of Best Supporting Actress.

Aside from Rainie, actresses Zhou Dongyu, Yang Zishan and Yao Hong-gui who starred in This is Not What I expected, Walking Past the Future and The Foolish Bird respectively, were not up for nomination for the role of Best Leading Actress.

It was veteran actress Sylvia Chang’s movie Love Education, where she not only directed, co-wrote but also starred in that was the most successful, being nominated for seven awards in total – Best Feature Film, Best Director, Best Leading Actor, Best Leading Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Best Original Screenplay and Best Original Film Song.

Aside from being involved with Love Education, Sylvia also played the role of an unsound mother in the Malaysian movie Shuttle Life. The 64-year-old earned the praise of many when she specifically learned Malay and picked up their accent just for filming.

However, due to strong competition in the Best Supporting Actress category this year, Sylvia did not secure enough votes to let her make the cut.

Japanese-Taiwanese actor Takeshi Kaneshiro made headlines with his first acting nomination in 28 years (he previously won the Best Original Movie Song award at the 43rd Golden Horse Awards) and is in the running for Best Leading Actor award for his performance in the romantic-comedy See You Tomorrow.

Judges felt that he was a perfect fit for the role, which allowed him to show off his lesser-seen comedic side. They praised him for his chemistry with co-star Sandrine Pinna and for adapting his character’s personality to the plot.

Unfortunately, fellow co-star Tony Leung, along with Cheng Jen-shuo and Bamboo Chen, who starred in The Island of River Flow and The Great Buddha, failed to make the cut for Best Actor this year.

The 54th Golden Horse Film Festival will be held at the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall in Taipei on Nov 25.

Photos: PBE Media

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Stars shine on 53rd Golden Horse Awards red carpet

Here are some of the nominees for the 54th Golden Horse Awards:

Best Director:
Geng Jun — Free and Easy
Sylvia Chang — Love Education
Vivian Qu — Angels Wear White
Ann Hui — Our Time Will Come
Yang Ya-che — The Bold, the Corrupt, and the Beautiful

Best New Director:
Huang Xi — Missing Johnny
Tan Seng-kiat — Shuttle Life
Huang Hsin-yao — The Great Buddha +
Zhou Ziyang — Old Beast
Chan Ching-lin — The Island That All Flow By

Best Leading Actor:
Kaiser Chuang — Who Killed Cock Robin
Huang Bo — The Conformist
Tu Men — Old Beast
Takeshi Kaneshiro — See You Tomorrow
Tian Zhuangzhuang — Love Education

Best Leading Actress:
Shu Qi — The Village of No Return
Sylvia Chang — Love Education
Vicky Chen — Angels Wear White
Kara Hui — The Bold, the Corrupt, and the Beautiful
Ivy Yin — The Island That All Flow By

Best Supporting Actor:
Mason Lee — Who Killed Cock Robin
Lei Jiayin — Brotherhood of Blades II: The Infernal Battlefield
Leon Dai — The Great Buddha +
Bamboo Chen — Alifu, the Prince/ss
Tony Leung Ka-fai — Our Time Will Come

Best Supporting Actress:
Wu Yanshu — Love Education
Chen Shiang-chyi — The Receptionist
Deanie Ip — Our Time Will Come
Vicky Chen — The Bold, the Corrupt, and the Beautiful
Tiffany Hsu — The Tag-Along 2

Best New Performer:
Rima Zeidan — Missing Johnny
Kent Tsai — All Because of Love
Zhong Chuxi — Youth
Zhang Aoyue — The Hidden Sword
Wu Nien-hsuan — The Tag-Along 2