Film director Feng Xiaogang never fails to amuse his audiences with his streetwise humor in comic flicks such as Part A Part B, Be Here or Be Square and most recently A World Without Thieves.

He did just fine even as a guest presenter at the First Chinese Film Directors' Guild Awards on Tuesday night in Beijing.

"Last year, I made a festive comedy Cell Phone which turned out to be the box office champion. But I did not get a film award for that as the Chinese Film Directors Guild Awards for the Top-grossing Film wasn't created," he said.

"This year, I tried much harder and churned out A World Without Thieves, which did even better, earning more than 100 million yuan (US$12 million) in box office revenues. Unfortunately, I met so many archrivals and my work was almost knocked off the top three smash hits list."

Turning to Hong Kong superstar Andy Lau on stage, Feng said: "You played lead actors in the films both for Zhang Yimou and me. But tell my why Zhang's House of Flying Daggers earned 40 million yuan (US$4.8 million) more than my film? Is it because Zhang bribed you, paying your flights to the Cannes Film Festival?"

"No, it is because you are not Zhang," Lau replied.

"I got it. But do you know why Ge You (in the role of thief king Uncle Li, against young rival Wang Bo, played by Lau) killed you in the end of my film? Firstly, I need you to move the audiences to tears. Secondly, I want to get rid of the hidden traitor in my production crew," Feng explained, drawing laughter from the crowds of film directors, actors and investors in the conference hall at the Beijing International Convention Center.

Winners and losers

A total of six film awards were given during the two-and-a-half-hour ceremony. A Fifth Generation filmmaker, Tian Zhuangzhuang won the Best Director Award of 2004 for his documentary Delamu, beating Lu Chuan (Kekexili: Mountain Patrol) and Feng Xiaogang (A World Without Thieves).

Tian's beautifully shot film documents the lives of ethnic minority people along a remote and treacherous mountain road, known as the ancient Tea Horse Road, which borders Southwest China's Yunnan Province and the Tibet Autonomous Region.

"It does not matter who grabs the award. More importantly, we have new awards for Chinese film artists. I would like to take this award on behalf of all Chinese film directors who shoot films with passion and devotion," Tian said in his speech of award acceptance.

Lu Chuan snatched the Best Young Director Award of 2004 for his Kekexili: Mountain Patrol, beating actress-turned director Xu Jinglei (My Dad and I) and writer-director Zhu Wen (South of the Clouds).

Lu's film depicts life and death battles between mountain patrolling volunteers and dangerous poachers of the endangered species of Tibetan antelope on the highlands in western China.

The best Chinese actress and actor of 2004 in the eyes of Chinese film directors turned out to be mainland idol Zhou Xun for her performance in Li Shaohong's Baobei in Love, and veteran actor Li Xuejian for his vividly portrayed role in Zhu Wen's South of the Clouds.

Also nominated for the Best Actor were Fan Wei ( in An Zhanjun's Bicycle Keeper) and Ye Daying (in Xu Jinglei's My Dad and I).

Wu Tianming, former head of the previously State-owned Xi'an Film Studio, took home the Lifetime Achievement Award for both his artistic achievements in films such as A River Without Navigation Marks, Life and Old Well, and his unreserved efforts to help the rise of Fifth Generation film directors about two decades ago.

"This award encourages me greatly. At 65, I will keep making films for at least 20 years," Wu said at the ceremony.

Without any suspense, the Top-grossing Film of 2004 went to Zhang Yimou's epic film House of Flying Daggers which took in 153 million yuan (US$18.4 million), beating Hollywood blockbuster Return of the King which scooped 86 million yuan (US$10.4 million) in box office income on the Chinese mainland film market.

Zhang's House of Flying Daggers is a costume drama that mixes martial arts, love and conspiracy, set in ancient China but mainly shot on location in Ukraine.

The film has been well received at home and abroad and is now the running for Best Foreign Picture at the Academy Awards in the United States.

Zhang was absent from the ceremony but sent a recorded video message to thank "first of all the audiences who love my films and also the judges who recognize my endeavor."

When asked why the awards also honor non-feature films, Chen Kaige, chairman of this year's panel of judges, replied: "Chinese films of any genre, screened in mainland movie theatres over the past year, are welcome to compete for the awards that are designed to recognize top films of the year living up to the highest academic and professional standards."

Respected awards

The 11-member panel cast their final votes last Tuesday morning and their winners' list was created and sealed under the supervision of experts from the Beijing office of accounting giant, KPMG International. The final results were not revealed until the awards ceremony.

"Unlike many other existing film awards in China, our award is more accurate, trustworthy in defining which are good and which are bad films because it looks at the films themselves, their technical merits, their inner strength, their visual quality and their market performances, but nothing else," said film director Lu Xuechang (Making of a Steel and Cala, My Dog) and member of the judging panel.

"We have longed to establish such respectable film awards. Finally, we did it when Chinese film art turns 100! We believe that our awards are not only unique but also attractive to Chinese film directors. Every year, a Chinese film director may face certain new challenges and even setbacks in his or her film career. Our awards may offer them some relief and incentives," said He Ping, vice-director of the guild, during the reception dinner last Saturday night.

For years, some of the existing Chinese awards for film artists, screen actors and directors, have been questioned by film industry insiders and average audiences alike for their accuracy, authority and fairness, and are losing their influence and popularity.

In 2003, many film critics and movie fans were angered when Zhang Yimou's martial arts epic Hero was excluded from the candidate lists for the Golden Rooster Film Awards, reportedly designed to show the film experts' judgment of good films.

In 2004, Feng Xiaogang refused to attend some of the high profile Chinese film festivals as his top-grossing film Cell Phone, a comic film dealing with extra-marital affairs, was accused of "damaging social morality and creating discord in Chinese families" by some film critics and excluded from awards.

The authority of some awards given for films and TV drama series were also questioned, as the panel of judges often granted one award to more than one work or offered awards to some film or TV works little known to most audiences.

"But two films sharing one award will never happen in our awards," said film director Teng Wenji, who is also on the judging panel for the Chinese Film Directors' Guild Awards.

(China Daily January 14, 2005)