Limbo

Source: Sun Entertainment Culture Limited

‘Limbo’

Soi Cheang’s Hong Kong thriller Limbo leads the nominations for this year’s Golden Horse Awards in Taiwan, followed by Kevin Ko’s local horror Incantation and Chan Ching-lin’s family drama Coo-Coo 043.

Black and white crime noir Limbo, which premiered in Berlinale Special in 2021, secured 14 nods including best film and best director, while Taiwanese titles Incantation and Coo-Coo 043 each received 13 nominations.

Scroll down for full list of nominations

The 59th edition of the awards will mark a stronger representation of Hong Kong titles than in recent years, during which the awards have been overshadowed by China-Taiwan tensions and a boycott order from the mainland Chinese government imposed in August 2019.

The ban was not extended to Hong Kong but since high-profile Hong Kong-China co-productions rely heavily on the mainland Chinese box office, only a few independently financed Hong Kong productions made it to the awards in the last few years.

However, Hong Kong is well-represented this year. Three of the best actor nominees are from Hong Kong – Louis Cheung for The Narrow Road, Lam Ka-tung for Limbo and Anthony Wong for The Sunnyside Of The Street – who are competing with Chang Hsiao-chuan (The Post-Truth World) and Yu An-shun (Coo-Coo 043), both from Taiwan.

The best film race is between Limbo, Incantation and Coo-Coo 043 as well as Laha Mebow’s Gaga, about Taiwanese indigenous people, and Lau Kok Rui’s feature debut The Sunnyside Of The Street, about the special bond between a Hong Kong-born Pakistani child refugee and a local taxi driver.

Gaga and The Sunnyside Of The Street each secured six nominations, including best original screenplay for both and best new director for the latter.

The best actress category includes Incantation’s Tsai Hsuan-yen from Taiwan, The Narrow Road’s Angela Yuen from Hong Kong, Limbo’s Cya Liu from mainland China, A Light Never Goes Out’s Hong Kong-based Taiwanese actress Sylvia Chang, and Ajoomma’s Hong Hui-fang from Singapore.

He Shu-ming’s Ajoomma, in which a Korean-drama obsessed widow travels out of Singapore for the first time and finds herself getting lost in Seoul, received four nominations including best new director and best original screenplay.

Also vying for best new director is Taiwanese actor Kai Ko’s directorial debut Bad Education, Tseng Ying-ting’s The Abandoned, and Hong Heng-fai’s Kissing The Ground You Walked On from Macau.

Golden Horse organisers announced the nominations today (September 27) in an on-site event, which was also broadcast live online. A total of 457 submissions were received, including 60 feature films. All the nominated films will be screened at the Golden Horse Film Festival, which is set to open with Coo-Coo 043 on November 2.

The Golden Horse Awards will take place on November 19.

Golden Horse nominations 2022

Best Narrative Feature

Incantation
GAGA
Limbo
The Sunny Side of the Street
Coo-Coo 043

Best Documentary Feature

Silence in the Dust (dir. LI Wei)
A Holy Family (dir. Elvis LU)
The King of Wuxia (dir. LIN Jing-jie)
Blue Island (dir. CHAN Tze-woon)
And Miles to Go Before I Sleep (dir. TSAI Tsung-lung)

Best Director

Kevin KO, Incantation
Laha Mebow, GAGA
CHANG Tso-chi, Flotsam And Jetsam
Soi CHEANG, Limbo
CHAN Ching-lin, Coo-Coo 043

Best Leading Actor

Louis CHEUNG Kai-chung, The Narrow Road
LAM Ka-tung, Limbo
Anthony WONG, The Sunny Side Of The Street
CHANG Hsiao-chuan, The Post-Truth World
YU An-shun, Coo-Coo 043

Best Leading Actress

TSAI Hsuan-yen, Incantation
Angela YUEN Lai-lam, The Narrow Road
Cya LIU, Limbo
Sylvia CHANG, A Light Never Goes Out
HONG Hui-fang, Ajoomma

Best Supporting Actor

KAO Ying-husan, Incantation
Mason LEE, Limbo
Berant ZHU, Bad Education
JUNG Dong-hwan, Ajoomma
HU Jhih-ciang, Coo-Coo 043

Best Supporting Actress

Kagaw Piling, GAGA
Jennifer YU, Far Far Away
Caitlin FANG, The Post-Truth World
YANG Li-ying, Coo-Coo 043
Rimong Ihwar, Coo-Coo 043

Best New Director

Kai KO, Bad Education
LAU Kok-rui, The Sunny Side Of The Street
HE Shu-ming, Ajoomma
TSENG Ying-ting, The Abandoned
HONG Heng-fai, Kissing The Ground You Walked On

Best New Performer

HUANG Sin-ting, Incantation
Yukan Losing, Gaga
Eric CHOU, My Best Friend’s Breakfast
Sahal ZAMAN, The Sunny Side Of The Street
HU Jhih-ciang, Coo-Coo 043

Best Original Screenplay

CHANG Che-wei, Kevin KO, Incantation
Laha Mebow, HSIEH Hui-ching, Gaga
LAU Kok-rui, The Sunny Side Of The Street
HE Shu-ming, Kris ONG, Ajoomma
CHAN Ching-lin, Coo-Coo 043

Best Adapted Screenplay

Ryan TU, My Best Friend’s Breakfast
AU Kin-yee, SHUM Kwan-sin, Limbo

Best Cinematography

CHEN Ko-chin, Incantation
CHENG Siu-keung, Limbo
LEUNG Ming-kai, The Sunny Side Of The Street
YAO Hung-I, Salute
Charlie SOU Wai-kin, Kissing The Ground You Walked On

Best Visual Effects

HUANG Min-pin, HSIEH Meng-cheng, LU Kuan-sang, LI Che-cheng, Incantation
Garrett LAM, HO Man-lok, DIU King-wai, Limbo
ArChin YEN, Bad Education
Dennis YEUNG, A Light Never Goes Out

Best Art Direction

Otto CHEN, Incantation
LIN Tien-yu, TSENG Hao-ming, LIN Chih-wei, Demigod: The Legend Begins
MAK Kwok-keung, Renee WONG, Limbo
YEH Tzu-wei, The Abandoned
CHANG Yi-feng, Coo-Coo 043

Best Makeup and Costume Design

DONG Yan-xiu, CHU Chia-yi, Incantation
Ken FAN, CHEN You-feng, Demigod: The Legend Begins
Bruce YU Ka-on, Karen YIP, Limbo
Lore SHIH, CHANG Fu-chen, The Abandoned
Emma CHEN, Coo-Coo 043

Best Action Choreography

LIAO Jia-sheng, LIN Kuei-hsieh, CHUANG Jen-ming, Demigod: The Legend Begins
Jack WONG Wai-leung, Limbo
HUNG Shih-hao, The Abandoned
Sunny PANG, Geylang
SHEU Fang-yi, Salute

Best Original Film Score

Rockid LEE, Incantation
WONG Hin-yan, The Narrow Road
KAWAI Kenji, Limbo
LEE Che-yi, LIM Giong, Salute
Point HSU, Coo-Coo 043

Best Original Film Song

“Là vì em”, And Miles to Go Before I Sleep
“Around The Hearth”, GAGA
“What’s on Your Mind”, My Best Friend’s Breakfast
“On the Road”, The Narrow Road
“A Place of Eternity”, Untold Herstory

Best Film Editing

HUANG Yi-ling, A Holy Family
Kevin KO, Incantation
David RICHARDSON, Limbo
SHIEH Meng-ju, LEE Huey, Bad Education
CHAN Ching-lin, Ian LIN, CHEN Pei-ying, Coo-Coo 043

Best Sound Effects

R.T KAO, Rockid LEE, Richard HOCKS, Incantation
Nopawat LIKITWONG, Limbo
R.T KAO, TSAI Doit, Kenny CHENG, The Abandoned
Ellison LAU Chi-keong, Kissing the Ground You Walked On
TU Duu-chih, CHIANG Yi-chen, CHEN Yu-chieh, Coo-Coo 043

Best Live Action Short Film

To the Sea (dir. LIN Po-yu)
Can You Hear Me? (dir. LI Nien-hsiu)
Big Day (dir. CHIANG Chung-chieh)
Frontier (dir. LI Ming)
The Thing with Feathers (dir. XU Tianlin)

Best Documentary Short Film

Will You Look at Me (dir. HUANG Shuli)
The Lighting (dir. Musquiqui Chihying)
Between the Stars and Waves (dir. LAU Kek-huat)
Kaohsiung City, Yancheng District, Fubei Rd., No. 31 (dir. CHIANG Wei-liang)
The Black Wall (dir. Anson MAK)

Best Animated Short Film

The Loach (dirs. CHEN Xi, AN Xu)
A Dog Under Bridge (dir. TANG Rehoo)
The Island of Us (dir. YU Yu)
Compound Eyes of Tropical (dir. ZHANG Xu-zhan)
A Night with Moosina (dir. TSAI Shiu-cheng)

Outstanding Taiwanese Filmmaker of the Year

CHEN Ming-ze

Lifetime Achievement Award

LAI Cheng-ying
CHANG Chao-tang