Fan Bingbing Returns Competing for Best Actress with 'Mother of Earth'; Golden Horse Awards Face-Off with Ariel Lin and Rene Liu

Chinese actress Fan Bingbing enjoyed a double celebration yesterday, as she was nominated for Best Actress for the movie 'Mother of Earth' at both the Tokyo International Film Festival and Taiwan's Golden Horse Awards, where she will be facing strong competitors Rene Liu and Ariel Lin! Shu Qi, who was widely expected to be nominated for Golden Horse 'Best Director' for her directorial debut 'Girls', was controversially unable to make the competition deadline due to post-production issues!

Fan Bingbing won Golden Horse Best Supporting Actress in 2007 with 'The Matrimony', and was previously nominated for Best Actress with 'I Am Not Madame Bovary'. After 9 years, she is once again vying for Best Actress. In 'Mother of Earth', she undergoes a total transformation. Golden Horse Executive Director Wen Tien-hsiang revealed, “Anyone who’s seen the film would describe her performance as stripped of all artifice. In the opening scene where she’s with a cow on a ridge, it took me several minutes to realize that the actress was the Fan Bingbing we know.” 'Mother of Earth' is directed by Malaysian director Chong Keat Aun, and had just been announced in the main competition lineup of the Tokyo International Film Festival earlier in the afternoon, making it a double dose of good news.

Rene Liu is nominated for the third time after 18 years with 'Our Unexpected Courage'. She joked, “I was bombarded by texts while cooking dinner, and only then realized that after 13 years away from feature films, I’ve been named by the Golden Horse Awards!” Ariel Lin thanked her 'Deep Calm' team, directly saying, “It's been a long time since my last nomination. My experiences during this period have helped me evolve, and I'm grateful to be back on the Golden Horse stage.”

Best Actor nominees are Hsu Ruei-chi ('Good Kids'), Ke Wei-lin ('Da Meng'), Joseph Chang Hsiao-chuan ('Deep Calm'), Chang Chen ('The Road to Happiness'), and Lan Wei-hua ('My Family Matters'). Among them, Chang Chen plays a man waiting overseas to be reunited with his wife and daughter, experiencing dramatic changes in just a few days. The jury described Chang Chen as already an actor of best-actor caliber, yet still able to offer something new, calling him the film’s “anchor”.

Malaysian director Lau Kok-Fah's 'The Sunny Side of Life' was nominated for Best Feature Film. As for snubs, stage actor Wei Jun-zhan from 'The Sunny Side of Life' received the most votes among those not nominated for Best Actor; playing the lead role of a man returning to Malaysia for a funeral, his convincingly authentic performance made many believe he was Malaysian.

Earlier, Shu Qi won the 'Best Director' award at the 30th Busan International Film Festival for her directorial debut 'Girls', leading many netizens to predict she'd be nominated for Golden Horse 'Best Director'; but in a stunning twist, she received no nominations at all! In response, the production company for 'Girls' explained: “Due to post-production delays, we were unable to complete Golden Horse entry requirements in time, so we could not submit this year.”

After hearing the news of her Best Actress nomination, Fan Bingbing shared on social media late night on the 1st that she had just finished a busy day, sincerely writing: “To everyone climbing upward on life’s journey. Just got off the plane, having a drink, to toast this busy yet fulfilling chapter. The road is long, let’s walk it together…” She attached a photo of herself holding a wine glass, clearly determined to celebrate and relax that night.

Source: Compiled