Cast of the film "The Battle at Lake Changjin" pose at the red carpet ceremony of the 2022 China Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival in Xiamen, southeast China's Fujian Province, Nov. 12, 2022. The red carpet ceremony of the 2022 China Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival, featuring the 35th China Golden Rooster Awards, was held here on Saturday. (Photo by Zeng Demeng/Xinhua)

Winners at the 37th Hundred Flowers Awards, one of the longest-standing and most prestigious honors in the Chinese film industry, were announced in Chengdu, Sichuan province on Sunday.

Zhang Yimou took home the Best Director Award for his comedy film Article 20, inspired by real-life cases about justified defense. This marks the eighth time the 74-year-old director has won the Hundred Flowers awards but the first time to win as best director.

"Although I have won many awards, this is my first time winning the Best Director award at the Hundred Flowers. As this award is chosen by the people, it exemplifies that winning the love of the people is the most difficult," said Zhang, expressing his gratitude to all the cast and crew members.

Article 20 also earned Ma Li the Best Actress accolade, causing the veteran actress to shed tears of joy. Beginning her acting career as a member of the comedy troupe Mahua FunAge in 2005, Ma emotionally expressed that it had taken her 20 years to transition from the comedy performance stage to the award ceremony of the Hundred Flowers.

"The past two decades have been very challenging. There were times when I even thought about giving up because comedic performers are sometimes not recognized. But I love acting so much that I have persevered for such a long time," said Ma. Director Chen Kaige's epic The Volunteers: To the War, which panoramically retells the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea (1950-53), won Best Film award.

Fu Ruoqing, chairman of the China Film Group Corp, the major producer of the war epic, said that Chen and other key creators have dedicated four years to the filming and production of the movie. He revealed that the sequel will be released in October, with the third installment scheduled for release next year.

Chang'an, the animated blockbuster hit of last summer, won the Excellent Film Award. Named after the capital of the Tang Dynasty (618-907), the movie chronicles the lifelong friendship between two legendary poets, Li Bai and Gao Shi, while also depicting renowned figures of the era such as Du Fu and Wang Wei.

Xie Junwei, who co-directed the film with Zou Jing, said that the award will encourage him and his fellow animators from Light Chaser Animation to create more high-quality works that showcase the charm of Chinese culture and history.

Zhu Yilong won Best Actor for Lighting Up the Stars, a feel-good tale depicting the father-daughter-like relationship between an orphaned girl and a funeral director. Yang Enyou, the 10-year-old actress who portrays the young girl, accepted the trophy on behalf of Zhu and called the actor, who didn't attend the ceremony as he was engaged in shooting a new movie. Zhu, speaking on the phone, expressed his surprise at the news of winning and shared that he felt a strong connection to the role.

Li Xuejian, 70, won Best Supporting Actor for his masterful portrayal of a noble lord in the fantasy epic Creation of the Gods I: Kingdom of Storms. It marks the veteran actor winning again more than 30 years after his biographical film Jiao Yulu won the Best Film category at the Hundred Flowers Awards in 1991.

Bowing to the audience before delivering his speech, Li says that he believes this honor belongs to every individual who loves cinema and promises that he will cherish it.

Yu Shi won Best New Actor category for portraying Ji Fa in Creation of the Gods I. Yu said that he had actually worked in the film industry for seven years and during this time he experienced long periods of waiting, repeating tasks that seemed meaningless to some people. Now that he has finally received this award, it is a great honor for him, as well as an encouragement and motivation.

Creative duo Dong Runnian and Ying Luojia took home the Best Screenplay award for their comedy hit Johnny Keep Walking!, a satire exposing the problems facing internet companies. Dong said winning the award, which he has been interested in since childhood, felt like a dream come true.

Initiated under the advocacy of Premier Zhou Enlai in 1962, the awards were the first cinematic honors generated through audience voting in then newly founded People's Republic of China.

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