“My Missing Valentine” sweeps the Golden Horse Awards

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwanese film “My Missing Valentine” enjoyed major success Saturday night at the annual Golden Horse Awards, winning five awards, including best feature film.

The romantic comedy, which tells the love story of a bus driver and a postal worker, also won awards for best director, best visual effects, best film editing and best original screenplay.

Overall, the Taiwanese talents had a great evening at the Golden Horse Awards, which are considered the Asian equivalent of the Oscars for Chinese-language films.

Taiwanese artists received awards for best actor and best actress. Mo Tzu-yi won best actor for his role in “Dear Tenant,” while Chen Shu-fang won best actress for “Little Big Women.”

Malaysian Chong Keat-aun won the award for best new director for “The Story of Southern Islet.” Taiwanese director Hou Hsiao-hsien received the lifetime achievement award.

Although the coronavirus pandemic has closed cinemas around the world, actors, directors and others managed to walk the red carpet ahead of the ceremony in Taipei, the capital of Taiwan. Taiwan has so far recorded only 611 cases of the coronavirus and only seven deaths.

“It's not easy. Look at what's happening around the world,” said director Ang Lee, chairman of the competition. “I just came back from New York. The cinemas there are closed. I'm deeply touched that Taiwan's box office is still increasing.”

For the second year in a row, talent from mainland China did not take part in the competition. Beijing had banned its artists from participating due to tensions between China and Taiwan. Taiwan seceded from the mainland after the civil war in 1949, but China still claims the island as part of its territory.

These tensions were evident at the Golden Horse Awards. In 2018, documentary filmmaker Fu Yue, in an acceptance speech at the awards ceremony, called on the world to recognize Taiwan as an independent country, something only a handful of countries currently do.

In response, Chinese participants refused to appear on stage, made pointed remarks about Taiwan and China belonging to the same family, and refused to attend the banquet reception following the show.

China has its own film award, the “Golden Rooster,” which is subject to ideological restrictions and government censorship.

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Associated Press video journalist Johnson Lai contributed to this report.