Film award winners announced

Winners at the 37th Hundred Flowers Awards, one of the longest-standing and most prestigious honors in the Chinese film industry, were announced in Chengdu, Sichuan province on Sunday.

Zhang Yimou took home the Best Director Award for his comedy film Article 20, inspired by real-life cases about justified defense. This marks the eighth time the 74-year-old director has won the Hundred Flowers awards but the first time to win as best director.

“Although I have won many awards, this is my first time winning the Best Director award at the Hundred Flowers. As this award is chosen by the people, it exemplifies that winning the love of the people is the most difficult,” said Zhang, expressing his gratitude to all the cast and crew members.

Article 20 also earned Ma Li the Best Actress accolade, causing the veteran actress to shed tears of joy. Beginning her acting career as a member of the comedy troupe Mahua FunAge in 2005, Ma emotionally expressed that it had taken her 20 years to transition from the comedy performance stage to the award ceremony of the Hundred Flowers.

“The past two decades have been very challenging. There were times when I even thought about giving up because comedic performers are sometimes not recognized. But I love acting so much that I have persevered for such a long time,” said Ma. Director Chen Kaige’s epic The Volunteers: To the War, which panoramically retells the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea (1950-53), won Best Film award.