Ten films were selected as the top prize-winning feature films by the review committee, consisting of 29 renowned film artists and industry insiders.

Gada Meilin, which features a Mongolian uprising leader in the 1930s and is dubbed "a hero epic" of the Chinese nation, and Charging out Amazon (Chongchu yamaxun), which was well received at the Shanghai International Film Festival held earlier this year, shared the top award.

Also winning awards were eight other movies including Final Dash (Beishui yizhan), Judge Mama (Faguan mama), The Dream of a Young Soldier (Gaoyuan rumeng), Mao Zedong in 1925 (Maozedong zai yijiu'erwu), Frequency for Victory (Shengzhen changkong), Red Lychee (Lizhi hong le), Meeting Life and Death (Miandui shengming) and Heavenly Grassland (Tianshang caoyuan).

Challenge of Life (Shengsi lei), produced by the Anhui Provincial Film Production Company, picked up the Best Stage Drama Film Award.

The Soldier Headmaster (Shibing xiaozhang), The Blaze of Bronzeware (Jintong de guanghui) and Piano Dream (Gangqin meng) shared the Prize for the Best Documentary.

One Hollywood blockbuster imported last year, Pearl Harbor dubbed by the August 1st Film studio, won the Best Dubbed Foreign Film Award.

The Best Director award was shared by Sai Fu and Mai Lisi, who jointly directed Heavenly Grassland, and Song Yeming, who directed Charging out Amazon.

The Best Actor award was shared by Hou Yong who stars in Charging Out Amazon, and Wang Ying who stars in Mao Zedong in 1925.

Yu Hui who stars in Qiao Feng and Tao Hong who stars in Life Show (Shenghuo xiu) shared the Best Actress Award.

Initially called the "Governmental Awards for Chinese Films," the Huabiao Film Awards was founded in 1956 for outstanding filmmakers and their films made between 1949 and 1955.

The annual awards were suspended for political reasons in 1957 and reopened in 1979.

(China Daily September 18, 2002)