SINGAPORE - Home-grown talents shone on the red carpet of the annual Golden Horse Awards - the prestigious film awards for Chinese-language cinema - held in Taipei on Saturday (Nov 21).
Singapore's own funnyman and Best Leading Actor nominee Mark Lee walked the red carpet of the event with his wife, Ms Catherine Ng, who is wearing a strapless red gown.
Dressed in a cream-coloured suit with a red bow tie and holding his wife's hand tightly, the 52-year-old led the team from the musical-comedy Number 1 onto the carpet.
In an on-carpet interview, Lee jokingly told his wife: "You can let go of my hand now that there's another pretty woman here," making reference to the red carpet host - Taiwanese television personality Pink Yang.
The film - about a retrenched manager and family man who finds a talent performing as a drag queen - has also been nominated for makeup and costume design. It is currently showing in theatres here.
He also asked his co-stars, transgender actress Kiwebaby Chang and local actor and the film's screenwriter Jaspers Lai, to join him in striking up a sexy pose for the cameras.
Kiwebaby Chang was dressed in a black dress that was almost completely sheer in the back, flaunting her butt and long legs.
Another feather in Singapore's cap is local photographer-turned-actor Chuando Tan, who walked the red carpet with Taiwanese actresses Nayeli and Chang Tzu-lei. The trio are co-stars in the upcoming movie Precious Is The Night. The thriller is set in 1960s Singapore and is directed by Taiwanese Wayne Peng and produced by his wife, Singaporean Lim Sau Hoong.
It has garnered nominations in the cinematography category for Peng, and makeup and costume design for Lim.
Tan, 54, looking every bit the dashing leading man in a sharp black suit, when asked what had inspired him to make his film debut, said: "Curiosity, I suppose. I think I wanted to fulfil a dream I've had since young."
But no one captured the red carpet attention like Chinese-American actress Bai Ling, who is gunning for the Best Leading Actress award for her role in The Abortionist, about a black market abortionist. The 54-year-old actress showed up in a red dress with an extremely high slit which flaunted her legs. The dress had a train with the words "Love" and "Peace" in both English and Chinese.
Singaporean songwriter Tan Boon Wah, who is a lawyer by day, walked the carpet with the team behind the homosexual-themed romance film Your Name Engraved Herein. He is one of the songwriters nominated for Best Original Film Song for the movie's theme song, sung by Taiwanese pop star Crowd Lu. The film has been nominated for five awards, including Best Supporting Actor for Leon Dai.
Last year's Best Leading Actress - Yeo Yann Yann, who won for her performance in Singaporean director Anthony Chen's forbidden love drama Wet Season - also made an appearance, in a figure-hugging black dress. She will be a guest presenter at the ceremony.
The 57th Golden Horse Awards Presentation Ceremony is being aired live from 7pm on Nov 21 on Hub E City (StarHub TV Channel 825).
