Ang Lee's Lust, Caution dominated the 44th Golden Horse Awards in Taipei with seven wins including best feature, best director, best actor and best adapted screenplay. The film had received eleven nominations.

Tony Ayres' The Home Song Stories took best actress for Joan Chen's performance and best original screenplay. The Australia-Singapore co-production had been nominated in seven categories.

Teng Huatao's The Matrimony and Jay Chou's The Secret also took two statues apiece with single awards going to Oxide Pang's The Detective, Kenneth Bi's The Drummer, Wilson Yip's Flash Point, Lin Ching-chieh's The Most Distant Course and Jiang Wen's The Sun Also Rises.

High-profile award winners absent from this year's ceremony included Tony Leung Chiu-wai (best actor), Tony Leung Ka-fai (best supporting actor), Fan Bingbing (best supporting actress), Donnie Yen (best action choreography), Jay Chou (best original song) and Jiang Wen (best editing).

The event compensated with glamorous hosts, including Isabella Leong, Barbie Hsu and Shu Qi, and with performances from Kelly Chen, Karen Mok and popular local singer Jam Hsiao. The latter performed extracts from the awards' four nominated songs. Unexpected highlight of the evening were the card tricks performed by magician Cyril Takayama.

The jury was one of the largest in the event's history, dominated by local academics and retired film technicians. The 21 members of the pre-selection jury were joined by seven additional jury members for the final rounds of voting. International jury members included critic Hubert Niogret, cinematographer Kwan Pun-leung and screenwriter Eddie Fong.

The senior age of jury members may have contributed to the dominance of mainland Chinese films in the initial selection. However, China's strength in the nominations can also be seen as a reflection of regional production trends and a shift that the awards need to make to remain relevant.

The ceremony included a tribute to Chinese filmmakers who have passed away in the past twelve months including Edward Yang who received a posthumous Lifetime Achievement Award from collaborators Hou Hsiao-hsien and Chang Chen.

The affiliated Golden Horse International Film Festival ended Thursday night with a screening of Yang's A One And A Two. Ticket sales reached $440,000, approximately 10% up on 2006 figures.

Award Results in Full:

Best Feature Film

Lust, Caution (dir. Ang Lee)

Best Director

Ang Lee (Lust, Caution)

Best Leading Actor

Tony Leung Chiu-wai (Lust, Caution)

Best Leading Actress

Joan Chen (The Home Song Stories)

Best Supporting Actor

Tony Leung Ka-fai (The Drummer)

Best Supporting Actress

Fan Bingbing (The Matrimony)

Best New Performer

Tang Wei (Lust, Caution)

Best Original Screenplay

Tony Ayres (The Home Song Stories)

Best Adapted Screenplay

Wang Hui-ling & James Schamus (Lust, Caution)

Best Cinematography

Mark Lee (The Matrimony)

Best Visual Effects

Wong Wang-tat, Wong Wang-hin, Cheung Yiu-ming & Donnie Lai (Secret)

Best Art Direction

Anuson Pinyopotjanee (The Detective)

Best Makeup & Costume Design

Pan Lai (Lust, Caution)

Best Action Choreography

Donnie Yen (Flash Point)

Best Original Film Score

Alexandre Desplat (Lust, Caution)

Best Original Film Song

Secret (Secret)

Best Film Editing

Zhang Yifan & Jiang Wen (The Sun Also Rises)

Best Sound Effect

Tu Duu-chih, Kuo Li-chi & Tang Hsiang-chu (The Most Distant Course)

Best Short Film

Fly Out Blue (dir. Jack Shih)

Best Documentary

Hollywood Chinese (dir. Arthur Dong)

Best Animation

No nominations

Formoz Film Award

Secret (dir. Jay Chou)

Formoz Filmmaker Award

Ang Lee (Lust, Caution)

Lifetime Achievement Award

Edward Yang

Audience Award

Getting Home (dir Zhang Yang)

FIPRESCI Award

What on Earth have I Done Wrong'! (dir. Doze Niu)

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