IT was Fann Wong's first Hollywood win, but instead of basking in the glory, she was stuck at home nursing a bad bout of flu.

Fann, 37, was named Best Actress last week at the inaugural West Hollywood International Film Festival (WHIFF) for her role as a ballroom dancing instructor grappling with love in the Singapore-produced movie Dance Of The Dragon.

As she had lost her voice, the MediaCorp actress told The New Paper via SMS yesterday that she was 'pleasantly surprised' when she heard the news.

'It would be great if I'm there to receive (the award) personally, it's a little regretful,' she wrote.

'And I'm disappointed that I'm celebrating in bed with dosages of medicine instead of champagne, haha.'

If you haven't heard of WHIFF, it's hardly surprising. An Internet search showed the film fest received hardly any coverage.

But surprise would be the response of local film critics who had panned the romantic movie directed by Australian John Radel.

The movie, which opened here on 1 May, bombed at the box office, raking in a meagre $170,000 despite an aggressive publicity campaign.

Korean hunk Jang Hyuk stars as a dance student who falls for Fann's character and incurs the wrath of her gongfu expert boyfriend (Hollywood's Jason Scott Lee).

Except for First magazine, other local reviewers had little praise for the film, which was shot entirely in Singapore and supported by the Singapore Tourism Board.

The Straits Times gave it half a star, slamming its 'awkward plot, jarring scene transitions and bad acting'.

Lianhe Wanbao was more generous with its 2.5 star rating, but criticised the film's hackneyed storyline and 'draggy' presentation.

First magazine, however, raved about its 'gorgeous cast, beautiful costumes, lush cinematography and lovely dance sequences' and gave it 3.5 stars.

But cinema-goers disagreed, making Dance of A Dragon Fann's worst box-office showing so far.

The star of Shanghai Knights and Just Follow Law had been on a winning streak since her big screen debut in the Hong Kong film The Truth About Jane and Sam.

Despite being a flop here, Dance Of The Dragon swept 10 awards at WHIFF, including Best Actor, Best Director, Best Production Design and Best Festival Movie.

It also won the Special Mention Jury Award.

About 140 films from 20 countries in Europe, US and Asia were shown, but most were little-known independent titles, documentaries and short films.

Dance Of The Dragon is arguably the most star-studded title. The WHIFF website touts its screening as a world premiere.

However, the website did not carry names of the winners. It seems not to have been updated for a while.

The four-day festival was also ignored by wire agencies or newspapers, including The Hollywood Reporter, listed as a sponsor on the WHIFF website.

WHIFF was founded by American producer Martin De Luca, who is relatively unknown outside the US, and it claimed on its website that it would be a 'small, intimate affair of A-list celebrities... from the whole world'.

But Fann was absent, and so was her Korean co-star Jang Hyuk.

None of the judges - Mr Armand Mastroianni, Mr Paul Lynch,

Ms Barbara Niven, Ms Cate Caplan, Mr Roger Ambrose, Mr Robert Easton, Elane Hendrix - are famous names, having worked mostly on American TV shows.

GOOD PUBLICITY

But this is not going to be Dance Of The Dragon's only festival stop.

Singapore-based Easternlight Film Productions, owned by former actor Robin Leong, said in a statement that it will also compete at the 12th Annual Rhode Island International Film Festival, 5th Rome International Film Festival, 14th Annual Temecula Valley International Film Festival and 9th Annual San Diego Asian Film Festival.

It said the film's multiple wins at WHIFF have 'further secured its reputation as a highly entertaining quality production' and will 'boost negotiations' for distribution in Asia, Europe and the US.

Dance Of The Dragon is scheduled to open next in Malaysia on 4 Sep.

This article was first published in The New Paper on Aug 5, 2008.