Lou Ye’s ‘An Unfinished Film’ Wins Top Honors at Golden Horse Awards

variety.com:

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Mainland Chinese director Lou Ye claimed the two top honors – best narrative feature film and best director – at the Golden Horse Film Awards on Saturday in Taiwan with his indie title “An Unfinished Film.”The prizes for Lou and others awarded on the night, represent a defiant gesture towards mainland Chinese authorities which operates a restrictive system of controls over its film industry.The long-running Golden Horse awards had for many years been regarded as the pinnacle awards event for Chinese-language cinema.

But, after a speech advocating Taiwan’s independence was given from the stage by a 2018 awards winner, China sought to ban its filmmakers from attending and instead promoted its own prize race.The People’s Republic of China (mainland China) and the Republic of China (Taiwan) are at loggerheads over legitimacy in many international institutions.

China claims democratically-run Taiwan as a rebel province with which it will be united, by force if necessary.A work of docu-fiction, “An Unfinished Film” depicts a film crew trying to shoot a movie during the Covid-19 pandemic in Wuhan, as the city was placed in an unprecedented lockdown.

The subject is highly sensitive for Chinese authorities and Lou used images that are banned or blocked in the movie. It is unclear what punishment Lou will receive for making the movie, which debuted in Cannes earlier this year, but which remains unreleased in China.