[2009.10.08] ZHOU XUN AND LI BINGBING DUEL FOR THE GOLDEN HORSE

The 46th Annual Taiwan Golden Horse Award will take place on November 28 in Taiwan. Yesterday its nominations were announced. The results were surprising as films of Andy Lau Tak Wa, Aaron Kwok Fu Sing, and Leon Lai Ming did not receive any nomination. Nick Cheung Ka Fai was nominated for Best Actor with BEAST STALKER (JING YUN). Daniel Wu (Ng Yin Cho) with an not yet released Taiwan film LIKE A DREAM was also nominated. Li Bingbing and Zhou Xun both received Best Actress nominations with THE MESSAGE. FOREVER ENTHRALLED's Zhang Ziyi turned from Lead to Support as she was nominated for Best Supporting Actress. The critical and commercial hit IP MAN only received a Best Action Choreography nomination.

When the nominations were announced yesterday, many favorites were not nominated. The Mainland Best Foreign Film Oscar representative FOREVER ENTHRALLED received four nominations that included Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best New Performer and Best Make Up & Costume Design. Lai Ming was not nominated for Best Actor and the film was not nominated for Best Feature Film. LOOK FOR A STAR's Lau Tak Wa was also not nominated. Aaron Kwok Fu Sing was also not nominated for either EMPIRE OF SILVER or MURDERER; instead Ng Yin Cho and Cheung Ka Fai represented Hong Kong in the Best Actor category. As for Best Actress, the category should be a contest between Li Bingbing and Zhou Xun as both were nominated with THE MESSAGE. Earlier receiving praise for her acting in IF YOU ARE THE ONE, Shu Qi and RED CLIFF 2's Lin Chiling also were not nominated.

Li Bingbing received a Best Actress nomination with THE MESSAGE. She honestly said that she was very happy with her second nomination. Last time she was nominated with THE KNOT. She and Zhou Xun both were nominated with THE MESSAGE and she congratulated her. The nominations also proved that this was a good movie and she will attend the ceremony. Sandrine Pinna (Cheung Yung Yung) was nominated for Best Actress with YANG YANG. When she received the good news she was at a hair salon. She joked that she wanted to pull off the curlers in her hair and dance on the street to celebrate. This year she was the only Taiwan actress with a nomination so she felt a lot of stress. The nomination also proved that it was a good movie and she hoped to take over with Taiwan movies.

Cheung Ka Fai received a Best Actor nomination with BEAST STALKER. He expressed that he was very happy because in his 20 year film career he has never stepped foot in Taiwan for work and thus has never been in contact with the place. He felt Taiwan was very mysterious and only knew that it was a food heaven. On a flight he watched a special on Taiwan and discovered that Taiwan had food that he has never seen. As for confidence, he expressed that he had 1/4 chance. Because he never saw the other films he did not know how the other actors performed. Since he never received a Golden Horse nomination, he felt happy and honored to have the chance. Will he attend? He said that he will have to work on BEAST STALKER 2 but will ask the director for time to attend. Ng Yin Cho with LIKE A DREAM was nominated for Best Actor. He expressed that he has not seen the film himself but felt very happy about the nomination. He thanked director Clara Law Cheuk Yiu for teaching him a lot during the shoot. He said that although this film was a drama, the shoot was very tough and he lost 20 pounds. He hoped that with this nomination more people will pay attention and support this film later.

Wai Ying Hung with AT THE END OF DAYBREAK (SUM MOR) received a Best Supporting Actress nomination. She was very happy to hear the good news and expressed that she had previous Golden Horse Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress nominations. Siu Hung pointed out that since she did not see the other films yet she had no idea how confident she was. In the film Tsui Tin Yau played her son. She would to attend the ceremony with him and celebrate with a meal with the crew.

The 46th Golden Horse Award Competition Nominees