KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 2 — Malaysia is front and centre at the 62nd Golden Horse Awards, with two of its productions landing multiple nominations in key categories.
Chong Keat-aun’s Mother Bhumi scored eight nods, including best film and best director, while also placing its star Fan Bingbing in the best actress race.
The drama, set to world premiere in Tokyo’s main competition later this month, casts Fan as a widow who toils in the fields by day and turns to mysticism by night to safeguard her village.
Her performance puts her up against Caitlin Fang (A Foggy Tale), Ariel Lin (Deep Quiet Room), Alexia Kao (Family Matters) and René Liu (Unexpected Courage).
Lau Kek-huat’s The Waves Will Carry Us collected five nominations, also earning a slot in the best film and best director categories.
Lau’s Malaysia-set feature tackles generational trauma and identity, with nods for Vera Chen in best supporting actress and Thomas Foguenne in best original score further boosting its awards profile.
Here’s a breakdown of the nominations for both films:
Mother Bhumi (Eight nominations)
- Best Narrative Feature
- Best Director (Chong Keat-aun)
- Best Leading Actress (Fan Bingbing)
- Best Cinematography (Leung Ming-kai)
- Best Makeup & Costume Design (Elaine Ng, Gary Chan, Kate Kua, Daphne Wong)
- Best Sound Effects (Tu Duu-chih, Fiona Chang, Chen Kuan-ting)
- Best Original Film Score (Yii Kah-hoe, Chong Keat-aun)
- Best Original Film Song (Bhujanga)
The Waves Will Carry Us (Five nominations)
- Best Narrative Feature
- Best Director (Lau Kek-huat)
- Best Supporting Actress (Vera Chen)
- Best Original Screenplay (Lau Kek-huat)
- Best Original Film Score (Thomas Foguenne)
They join a competitive field led by Chen Yu-hsun’s historical drama A Foggy Tale, which dominates this year’s tally with 11 nominations, and Shih-Ching Tsou’s Cannes breakout Left-Handed Girl, which picked up nine.
Hong Kong director Jun Li’s Queerpanorama rounds out the best film lineup.
The Golden Horse Awards, founded in 1962 in Taipei, are considered the pinnacle of recognition for Chinese-language films, drawing submissions from across Asia each year.
This year’s Golden Horse nominations were drawn from nearly 600 submissions across features, documentaries and animation.
The winners will be unveiled in Taipei on November 22, with the jury line-up expected to be announced later this month.
