Hong Kong's 'A Simple Life' sweeps 'China Oscars'

Hong Kong drama "A Simple Life" swept the board Saturday at the Golden Horse Film Awards -- known as the Chinese-language Oscars -- with gongs for best picture, director, actor and actress. "I want to thank director Ann Hui and Andy Lau for giving me this opportunity to play so I can be so lucky in my old days," Hong Kong actress Deanie Ip, who took the Best Actress award, told the crowd at a gala ceremony in Hsinchu, northern Taiwan. Ip, 64, played a servant who wants to move into a nursing home after suffering a stroke in "A Simple Life", a role that also won her the best actress award at September's Venice film festival. Hui was crowned best director and Lau best actor for the film, based on the true story of veteran Hong Kong film producer Roger Lee. "I am very happy to win -- I hope I won't have a stroke," joked Hui, who saw off popular Taiwanese director Wei Te-sheng and Chinese veteran Jiang Wen. Wei, whose aboriginal war epic "Seediq Bale" led the race with 11 nominations, walked away with the best picture and two technical awards as well as best supporting actor for Bokeh Kosang. "I am really grateful to my co-workers and I am sorry to have kept you in the mountains for so long. I also want to thank all the 'angels' who financed the film," Wei said. "Seediq Bale" was based on the true story of a mountain headhunting tribe fighting against Japanese colonial forces in the 1930s, and became Taiwan's most expensive production with a cost of US $23 million. Wei told AFP in an earlier interview that shooting the film in the mountains was challenging, while securing enough funding to keep the production rolling was a constant struggle. Nearly 30 films from Taiwan, China, and Hong Kong were nominated in the 48th edition of the Golden Horse Awards, styled after the US Academy Awards but decided by a jury along the lines of the Cannes film festival.