Lau Kek-huat’s From Island To Island won the Grand Prize and Best Documentary at this year’s Taipei Film Awards, while Hsiao Ya-chuan’s 1980-set drama Old Fox (pictured above) scooped five prizes including best feature and best director.
Taipei Film Awards, which take place during the Taipei Film Festival (June 21-July 6), hands out prizes in four categories – feature, documentary, animation and short films – presenting the $30,000 (NT$1m) Grand Prize to the best film overall.
Lau’s film, which also won best documentary, explores the experiences of Taiwanese soldiers, doctors and overseas residents during the Second World War when Taiwan was a part of the Japanese empire.
Old Fox, which follows a young boy during Taiwan’s transition to democracy in the late 1980s, also won awards for best screenplay, cinematography and makeup & costume design.
Among other awards, best actor went to Ethan Juan for crime drama The Pig, The Snake And The Pigeon, which also took best supporting actor (Le Lee-zen), while Trouble Girl won awards for best actress (Audrey Lin) and best supporting actress (Chen Yi-han). Lin, who also won best actress for the film at Taiwan’s Golden Horse Awards last year, is only 12 years old.
Meanwhile, winners at Taipei Film Festival’s International New Talent Competition included Who Do I Belong To, directed by Meryam Joobeur, which took the Grand Prize, while Hiroshi Okuyama’s My Sunshine won the Special Jury Prize, Taiwan Directors Guild Award and Audience Choice Award. The ceremony for the International New Talent Competition took place earlier in the festival on June 25.
TAIPEI FILM AWARDS 2024:
Grand Prize: From Island To Island, dir: Lau Kek-huat
Best Feature: Old Fox, dir: Hsiao Ya-chuan
Best Director: Hsiao Ya-chuan, Old Fox
Best Actor: Ethan Juan, The Pig, The Snake And The Pigeon
Best Actress: Audrey Lin, Trouble Girl
Best Supporting Actor: Lee Lee-zen, The Pig, The Snake And The Pigeon
Best Supporting Actress: Chen Yi-han, Trouble Girl
Best Screenplay: Old Fox
Best Cinematography: Old Fox
Best Makeup & Costume Design: Old Fox
Best Documentary: From Island To Island, dir: Lau Kek-huat
Best Short Film: Reclaim My Summer
Best Animation: Pigsy
Best New Talent: Cheng Fei-fei, Big
Outstanding Contribution Award: Yan Jhen-fa (movie billboard painter)