[2013.11.13] ANG LEE LOCKS IN THE JURY FOR 10 DAYS OF FILM SCREENINGS

courtesy of on.cc

courtesy of mingpao.com

The Golden Horse Award enters its 50th anniversary. For the first time a jury press conference was held before the awards. The goal was for jury chair Ang Lee to focus on watching movies without any media disturbance. Ang Lee and jury members Kevin Tsai, Li Bingbing and others for 10 days starting today had to watch 4 nominated films everyday. Having been on the jury for the Venice and Cannes Film Festivals, Ang Lee felt that the Golden Horse Award's definition was wider, as big films, small films and art films were all in competition. In his impression the Golden Horse Award was stronger artistically.

A reporter mentioned that the Golden Horse Award was only known in the Chinese world. How would Ang Lee increase the Golden Horse Award's influence? Ang Lee replied, "We don't need to do anything. 4 times the people who speak English speak Chinese in the entire world. The Chinese film market will be even bigger than Hollywood. The Golden Horse Award influence will also expand, nothing special needs to be done."

In recent years Taiwan films have been criticized as movies about little people and mobsters, reflecting Taiwan's shallow culture. Ang Lee felt that filmmakers were tools of reflecting society, with courage and sincerity they made examination of society. "Forcing depth out of the shallow culture actually is insincere. Making shallow work in some place with deep culture is a disservice to your culture."

Former Golden Horse Best Actress, Li Bingbing said that the jury was not an easy job. Speaking of her relationships with the Best Actress nominees, she joked, "With Ang Lee here do I dare be unfair?" Ang Lee revealed that he had to turn down an U.S. television series to make time for the jury. "After winning so many Golden Horse Awards, it doesn't seem right if I don't return the favor."

Tony Leung Chiu Wai shot a five minute video for the Golden Horse Award. He mentioned that he won his first Golden Horse Award after age 30, he thanked his mother, sister and Carina Lau Ka Ling for their support. Wai Jai also said that making movies was simpler than real life and revealed that he was lost. He was unable to leave the character. He said, "Once when I got home I was very scared, I seemed to be still inside the character. Later I learned to separate the two."