Weighing up Ilo Ilo's Golden Horse chances

Out of its six nominations at this year's Golden Horse Awards, Singapore film Ilo Ilo stands a good chance of winning in two or three categories, say industry folks.

According to local film directors and producers Life! spoke to, Best New Performer for first-time child actor Koh Jia Ler, Best New Director for Anthony Chen and Best Supporting Actress for Yeo Yann Yann are possibilities.

The most daunting category Ilo Ilo is competing in has to be Best Feature Film. As film-maker Eric Khoo, 48, points out: "It's up against pretty strong contenders."

The category is chock-a-block with works from feted veterans. There is violent crime drama A Touch Of Sin from China's Jia Zhangke, period martial arts flick The Grandmaster from Hong Kong's Wong Kar Wai, family drama Stray Dogs from Taiwan-based Tsai Ming-liang and thriller Drug War from Hong Kong's Johnnie To.

The other two Ilo Ilo nominations are for Best Supporting Actor for Chen Tianwen and Best Original Screenplay for Anthony Chen.

The film is about a Singaporean family's experiences during the Asian financial crisis of 1997 and its impact on their relationship with a newly arrived Filipino maid.

Jack Neo, 53, thinks that Ilo Ilo's best chances are for Best Film and Best New Director.

"I'm very confident of Chen's directorial skills. He had already shone with his short film The Reunion Dinner (2011)," says Neo, whose childhood drama Homerun won its actress Megan Zheng the Best New Performer prize at 2003's Golden Horse Awards.

"I sincerely hope that a Singapore film can once again stand tall at the Golden Horse Awards."

Anthony Chen won the Camera d'Or for Best Debut Feature at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival in May.

Many are rooting for him to make that trip to the podium for Best New Director at the Nov 23 Golden Horse ceremony, the Chinese-language movie world's equivalent of the Academy Awards. Taiwanese director Lee Ang leads the Golden Horse Awards jury.

Chen is up against actress-turneddirector Vicki Zhao Wei (right), singer- turned-director Juno Mak, Taiwan's Hsu Chao-jen and Hong Kong pair Longman Leung and Sunny Luk.

Film-maker Royston Tan, 36, says: "Here you have a very humble film and with all the constraints, getting nominated is already a big achievement. I think Anthony stands a very high chance for Best New Director and I really hope he will win the award because once you miss this, you can never win it again."

He also thinks that 12-year-old Koh has a good shot "for his very natural acting".

Meanwhile, director-actress Michelle Chong, 35, is plumping for director and actress - the director award because every scene in the film is so well- crafted and also because "of the heads-up given at Cannes". In the supporting actress category, she says Yeo "gave such an understated yet convincing performance".

Producer Melvin Ang, 50, thinks best new director, screenplay and new performer are the categories in which the film is most likely to do well.

Another producer, Ms Chan Pui Yin, 43, picks screenplay, new performer and supporting actress as the categories which are likely to strike gold. She says: "I think the film will win something as it has been winning awards in various festivals."

Ilo Ilo bagged three awards at the Pacific Meridian Film Festival in Vladivostok, Russia, last month including Best Feature, Netpac (Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema) award and Best Actress for Yeo. At Jameson Cinefest in Hungary, it won three prizes, including a Fipresci Award from international film critics. Koh also won for Best Actor at the Eurasia International Film Festival in Kazakhstan.

Golden Horse-winning composer Ricky Ho, 54, points out that it is hard to tell which way the Golden Horse race will swing. He says of the awards: "Very unpredictable. You can never guess what will happen."

The Singaporean won for Best Score in 2011 for historical epic Warriors Of The Rainbow: Seediq Bale and is once again nominated in the same category for the documentary feature Beyond Beauty, Taiwan From Above.

Others throw caution to the wind and go all out in supporting Ilo Ilo. Film-maker Kelvin Tong, 40, thinks it has "great chances" across the board "as it is a very good Singaporean film".

And producer Lim Teck, 38, enthuses: "I'm going with blind faith to say the movie will win all six awards. I'm just too excited and happy to see a Singapore movie nominated for such important awards that I'll not even stop to consider."

THE COMPETITION

BEST FEATURE FILM

• - Ilo Ilo by Anthony Chen
• - A Touch Of Sin by Jia Zhangke
• - The Grandmaster by Wong Kar Wai
• - Stray Dogs by Tsai Ming-liang
• - Drug War by Johnnie To

BEST NEW DIRECTOR

• - Anthony Chen for Ilo Ilo
• - Zhao Wei for So Young
• - Longman Leung and Sunny Luk for Cold War
• - Juno Mak for Rigor Mortis
• - Hsu Chao-jen for Together

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

• - Chen Tianwen for Ilo Ilo Li
• - Xuejian for Back To 1942
• - Eddie Peng for Unbeatable
• - Huang Bo for Journey To The West: Conquering The Demons
• - Tong Dawei for American Dreams In China

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

• - Yeo Yann Yann for Ilo Ilo
• - Crystal Lee (above right) for Unbeatable
• - Susan Shaw for Tales From The Dark 1
• - Lin Mei-hsiu for To My Dear Granny
• - Xue Hong for Longing For The Rain

BEST NEW PERFORMER

• - Koh Jia Ler for Ilo Ilo
• - Kuo Shu-yau for Step Back To Glory
• - Yang Liang-yu for A Time In Quchi
• - Huang Shao-yang for Together
• - Dong Zijian for Young Style

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

• - Anthony Chen for Ilo Ilo
• - Jia Zhangke for A Touch Of Sin
• - Chu Yu-ning for To My Dear Granny
• - Wai Ka Fai, Yau Nai Hoi, Ryker Chan and Yu Xi for Drug War
• - Zhou Zhiyong, Zhang Ji and Aubrey Lam for American Dreams In China

BEST ORIGINAL FILM SCORE

• - Ricky Ho and Lin Ching-tai for Beyond
• - Beauty, Taiwan From Above
• - Patrick Jonsson for Bends
• - Lim Giong for A Touch Of Sin
• - Wu Rui-ran for A Time In Quchi
• - Owen Wang for Zone Pro Site

bchan@sph.com.sg

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