'Siddharth,' 'Grandmaster' win big at Beijing film fest
- By Zhang Rui
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E-mail China.org.cn, April 24, 2014
Canada/India coproduction "Siddharth" surprisingly snatched Best Film from China's Kung Fu epic "The Grandmaster," which eventually did win three Tiantan Awards at the 4th Beijing International Film Festival Wednesday.
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| Zhang Ziyi wins best actressaward for The Grandmaster. [China.org.cn] |
"Siddharth," directed by Richie Mehta, tells the story of a chain-wallah from Delhi traveling across India in search of his missing son Siddharth, in the hope that whoever took him, might return him unharmed.
The film was awarded the most important Best Film Award at the 2nd Tiantan Awards (also known as the Temple of Heaven Awards) last night, beating the nearly invincible "The Grandmaster." Surprised audiences witnessed Richie Mehta and the film's producers take to the stage to accept the award, with their facial expressions clearly showing that even they themselves couldn't believe they had actually received the honor.
Wong Kar-wai's "The Grandmaster," which had swept the Hong Kong Film Awards with record 12 wins, won three awards -- including Best Director, Best Cinematography and Best Actress (Zhang Ziyi).
Another Chinese film in the competition, "American Dreams in China," took home the Best Screenplay award.
The Best Actor award went to Guillaume Gouix for his outstanding performance in French film "Attila Marcel," which also won the Best Music award. Best Supporting Actor and Actress respectively went to Alan Rickman for the French film "A Promise" and Re Lee for the South Korean production "Hope." The Best Visual Effects award was handed to Australian film "The Rocket."
Fifteen films shortlisted from 837 submissions, from 88 countries and regions, entered the race. The seven-member jury was headed by acclaimed director John Woo.
The 4th Beijing International Film Festival, which concluded on Wednesday with the Tiantan Awards ceremony, hosted various activities such as film forums, carnivals and film markets in Beijing from April 16 to 23. As a new and ambitious film festival, the Beijing government is still trying to find a place for it in the global film industry.
Foreign filmmakers, especially those from Hollywood, came here hungry for the emerging potential market and profits, while Chinese filmmakers are desperate to expose and sell their film projects to the rest of the world.
Yet as director Oliver Stone told China.org.cn, there are too many parties coming in just for the money instead of the good ideas. "Hollywood steals everything they can, it's in the nature of movie business and everyone imitates success. The problems are sometimes that they make so many copies, they in fact drive out the original and the power of the original," he said.
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