2024 Taipei Film Award winners announced Grand Prize goes to documentary “From Island to Island” “Old Fox” is the biggest winner, bagging five prizes including Best Feature and Best Director Ethan Juan wins Best Actor for “The Pig, the Snake and the Pig
2024.07.06
The 26th Taipei Film Award ceremony was held at Taipei Zhongshan Hall on the evening of July 6. The Grand Prize with a cash award of one million Taiwan dollars went to Best Documentary winner, From Island to Island. The judges praised the director LAU Kek-huat for demonstrating a broad perspective and a great ambition in his consistent creation; moreover, Lau took on the challenge to comb through the conflicts between the war and the human nature in the complicated history of Asia. They remarked that the film was sad and yet profoundly meaningful. For the first time, Ethan JUAN won Best Actor for The Pig, the Snake and the Pigeon while Audrey LIN won Best Actress for Trouble Girl. In addition, LEE Lee-zen and CHEN Yi-han were awarded Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress respectively. Best Feature winner Old Fox won five awards and became the biggest winner this year.
The Taipei Film Award jury chose a winner among the nominated films in the four categories, including feature, documentary, short film and animation, and then among the best films of the four categories, they decided the Grand Prize winner. This year, From Island to Island won not only Best Documentary but the Grand Prize with a cash award of one million Taiwan dollars. Producer Jessica Wan-yu LIN expressed, ‘Director Lau Kek-huat once said that the biggest inspiration he got from making this film was that human nature was fragile and we must often remind ourselves that it is very easy for people to bow down to the evil. The effort we put in to make ourselves less mediocre is where the power of documentary comes from. We thank all the interviewees who handed their memories to us, and we hope their stories will be forever remembered.’ Directed by HSIAO Ya-chuan, Old Fox won five awards, including Best Feature, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography and Best Makeup & Costume Design. Furthermore, Best Short Film went to Reclaim My Summer and Best Animation went to Pigsy.
Ethan Juan won Best Actor for The Pig, the Snake and the Pigeon. The judges commented that Juan threw himself into bringing the character of a wanted man to life and conveyed the detailed multiple layers of emotions. As Juan could not attend the ceremony in person, LEE Lieh, the executive producer, received the award on his behalf and read out his acceptance speech. ‘“Do it if you want to! Why are you thinking so much?” This is what my mother sometimes said to me when she was alive. Having worked as an actor for twenty years, I suddenly come to realize that part of my life is blended with the scenes in the films. The similarity and coincidences make me treat each performance with respect and awe.’ Lee Lee-zen, who played the detective Chen Hui in The Pig, the Snake and the Pigeon, was awarded Best Supporting Actor. It was Lee’s first award after years’ career in acting and therefore, he got very emotional when delivering his acceptance speech. He said, ‘I’d like to thank the director and the executive producer. Thank you, Ethan, because the character Chen Hui wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for you.’ Moreover, Lee expressed his gratitude to the veteran actors Chen Yi-wen and Ben Yuen Fu Wah and his family.
After her victory at the Golden Horse Awards, 12-year-old Audrey Lin won Best Actress again for Trouble Girl and became the youngest Best Actress in the history of Taipei Film Awards. In Trouble Girl, Lin played a girl who had ADHD. Her unique natural performance enhanced the complicated situation portrayed in the script. Lin said, ‘Trouble Girl has taken me a long way. It’s like having a dream and I have so many people to thank for this. I hope in the future I’ll be as brave as the heroine; I’ll grow up bravely, make mistakes bravely and dream bravely. Thank you all.’ Chen Yi-han, who played Audrey Lin’s mother in Trouble Girl, was awarded Best Supporting Actress for the role. In 2010, Chen won Taipei Film Award Best Actress for Hear me and fourteen years later, here she was again. Standing on the stage, she felt so moved as she said, ‘When I appeared in Hear Me, I was a young woman who knew nothing. Fourteen years later, now I have a family of my own with two children and played a very different role. I’d like to thank Taipei Film Festival for offering me great support when I needed it.’
Lastly, Best New Talent went to the 11-year-old CHENG Fei-fei for BIG. In tears, she thanked the director Wei Te-sheng for giving her a good character to play and said, ‘I’ll work harder in acting and take part in even better productions in the future.’ This year’s Outstanding Contribution Award was presented by the actor YANG Kuei-mei to the movie billboard painter YAN Jhen-fa. At the age of 71, Yan has dedicated all his life to film; he said, ‘My right eye is almost blind, but I’ll keep painting until I go completely blind.’ His words deeply moved all the filmmakers at the ceremony.
The Taipei Film Award jury chose a winner among the nominated films in the four categories, including feature, documentary, short film and animation, and then among the best films of the four categories, they decided the Grand Prize winner. This year, From Island to Island won not only Best Documentary but the Grand Prize with a cash award of one million Taiwan dollars. Producer Jessica Wan-yu LIN expressed, ‘Director Lau Kek-huat once said that the biggest inspiration he got from making this film was that human nature was fragile and we must often remind ourselves that it is very easy for people to bow down to the evil. The effort we put in to make ourselves less mediocre is where the power of documentary comes from. We thank all the interviewees who handed their memories to us, and we hope their stories will be forever remembered.’ Directed by HSIAO Ya-chuan, Old Fox won five awards, including Best Feature, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography and Best Makeup & Costume Design. Furthermore, Best Short Film went to Reclaim My Summer and Best Animation went to Pigsy.
Ethan Juan won Best Actor for The Pig, the Snake and the Pigeon. The judges commented that Juan threw himself into bringing the character of a wanted man to life and conveyed the detailed multiple layers of emotions. As Juan could not attend the ceremony in person, LEE Lieh, the executive producer, received the award on his behalf and read out his acceptance speech. ‘“Do it if you want to! Why are you thinking so much?” This is what my mother sometimes said to me when she was alive. Having worked as an actor for twenty years, I suddenly come to realize that part of my life is blended with the scenes in the films. The similarity and coincidences make me treat each performance with respect and awe.’ Lee Lee-zen, who played the detective Chen Hui in The Pig, the Snake and the Pigeon, was awarded Best Supporting Actor. It was Lee’s first award after years’ career in acting and therefore, he got very emotional when delivering his acceptance speech. He said, ‘I’d like to thank the director and the executive producer. Thank you, Ethan, because the character Chen Hui wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for you.’ Moreover, Lee expressed his gratitude to the veteran actors Chen Yi-wen and Ben Yuen Fu Wah and his family.
After her victory at the Golden Horse Awards, 12-year-old Audrey Lin won Best Actress again for Trouble Girl and became the youngest Best Actress in the history of Taipei Film Awards. In Trouble Girl, Lin played a girl who had ADHD. Her unique natural performance enhanced the complicated situation portrayed in the script. Lin said, ‘Trouble Girl has taken me a long way. It’s like having a dream and I have so many people to thank for this. I hope in the future I’ll be as brave as the heroine; I’ll grow up bravely, make mistakes bravely and dream bravely. Thank you all.’ Chen Yi-han, who played Audrey Lin’s mother in Trouble Girl, was awarded Best Supporting Actress for the role. In 2010, Chen won Taipei Film Award Best Actress for Hear me and fourteen years later, here she was again. Standing on the stage, she felt so moved as she said, ‘When I appeared in Hear Me, I was a young woman who knew nothing. Fourteen years later, now I have a family of my own with two children and played a very different role. I’d like to thank Taipei Film Festival for offering me great support when I needed it.’
Lastly, Best New Talent went to the 11-year-old CHENG Fei-fei for BIG. In tears, she thanked the director Wei Te-sheng for giving her a good character to play and said, ‘I’ll work harder in acting and take part in even better productions in the future.’ This year’s Outstanding Contribution Award was presented by the actor YANG Kuei-mei to the movie billboard painter YAN Jhen-fa. At the age of 71, Yan has dedicated all his life to film; he said, ‘My right eye is almost blind, but I’ll keep painting until I go completely blind.’ His words deeply moved all the filmmakers at the ceremony.