Anthony Hopkins’ ‘The Father’ Voted Best International Film by China at the Golden Rooster Awards

Los Angeles, December 31 (IANS): The Golden Rooster Awards, supported by the Chinese government, honored Oscar-winning drama “The Father” with the event’s first-ever prize for best international film in the coastal city of Xiamen.

Beijing is hoping its star-studded awards ceremony can surpass the Taipei Golden Horse Awards, once known as the “Asian Oscars” for Chinese-language content.

This year’s Golden Rooster and Cent Flowers Film Festival, which kicked off on Tuesday, added the International Film Competition category for the first time, varie.com reports.

This year’s 34th edition honors films screened in theaters in China between July 1, 2020 and July 15, 2021.

‘The Father’ beat animated ‘Wolfwalkers’, WWII drama ‘Persian Lessons’, Italian live-action ‘Pinocchio’ and Thai drama ‘Happy Old Year’.

The film grossed $ 4.14 million in China in June, nearly double the $ 2.12 million it earned in the United States.

Veteran Zhang Yimou was the most decorated at this year’s ceremony, with his two films “Cliff Walkers” and “One Second” winning four of the top prizes.

Zhang won the award for best director for his work on the spy thriller “Cliff Walkers”, which also won the award for best actor for his lead role, Zhang Yi. Beijing had selected the film as this year’s Oscar submission. Director Cultural Revolution’s “One Second” won for Best Supporting Actor (Fan Wei) and Best Sound.

The award for best feature film went to the jingoistic local drama ‘Island Keeper’, a film created as an ode to the 100th anniversary of the founding of the ruling Communist Party based on the real life story of a couple facing hardships to protect China’s coastline. The 100th anniversary title ‘1921’ won gold with best screenplay.

Zhang Xiaofei won the Best Actress award for her work as the titular mom in the Chinese New Year hit “Hi Mom”, while Zhu Yuanyuan won the Best Supporting Actress award for her work in the drama. family “My sister”.