Singapore films A Good Child and Amoeba, actor Richie Koh earn Golden Horse Award nominations

SINGAPORE – Two films with Singapore participation, A Good Child and Amoeba, have received nominations at the 62nd Golden Horse Awards.

For their work in the drama A Good Child, Mediacorp actor Richie Koh, 32, earned a nod in the Best Leading Actor category, while Shahreens and Dollei Seah will compete in the Best Make-up and Costume Design category.

In addition, Singaporean film-maker Tan Siyou is nominated for Best New Director for her debut feature, the coming-of-age drama Amoeba.

The winners will be announced at the Golden Horse Awards ceremony in Taipei on Nov 22.

Written and directed by Singaporean film-maker Ong Kuo Sin, A Good Child tells the story of Jia Hao (Koh), a drag queen estranged from his family. When his mother Ju Hua (Hong Huifang) develops dementia, he returns to care for her. Her loosening grip on reality allows him to reshape her memories, enabling him to confront buried wounds and make an attempt at healing.

Opening in Singapore cinemas on Oct 9, it is produced by Ong’s Byleft Productions and Singapore label Clover Films, and adapted from the life of full-time drag queen Christopher Lim, known by his drag alias Sammi Zhen.

Koh said in a press statement: “I’m truly happy to be nominated for the first time, as I didn’t expect the film to be seen outside of Singapore. I’m thankful to (Ong) as well as my acting coach for their support and guidance, which allowed me to bring out the role of Jia Hao better.”

He added: “I hope A Good Child will reach greater heights and be seen by more people as the film tells a heartfelt story.”

Koh will be up against Taiwan’s Chang Chen (Lucky Lu), Joseph Chang (Deep Quiet Room) and Lan Wei-hua (Family Matters), as well as Hong Kong’s Will Or (A Foggy Tale) in the Best Leading Actor category.

Chang Chen, 48, previously won the award in 2021 for mystery film The Soul and was nominated in the same category in 2024 for crime film The Embers.

Koh made his acting debut in 2017 with the Mediacorp military drama series When Duty Calls and earned his first Star Awards nomination in 2018, for Best Newcomer.

His portrayal of Tian Cai, an adult with special needs in the drama series Your World In Mine (2022), earned him the Best Actor prize at 2023’s Star Awards, which made him the youngest winner in that category in 26 years.

Koh has also appeared in the Jack Neo films The Diam Diam Era (2020) and The Diam Diam Era Two (2021), as well as the short film Dragon Gate Assembly, part of the SG60 anthology film Kopitiam Days (2025).

Mediacorp’s artiste management arm The Celebrity Agency posted on social media after the nomination list was announced on Oct 1: “Congratulations to @richiekrq for your Best Leading Actor nomination at the Golden Horse Awards 2025 for A Good Child! We are beyond proud of you! Your hard work and talent truly shine through. This is only the beginning of many more milestones.”

Amoeba, produced by Singapore’s Akanga Film Asia, as well as producers from France, the Netherlands and Spain, follows a 16-year-old dropout who returns to her all-girls school and forms a gang with three other misfits.

It received its world premiere at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival in September. The film has yet to get a release date in Singapore.

Tan, 36, who is based in Los Angeles, also directed the short film Red Plastic Chairs On Sticky Floors for Kopitiam Days.

She reposted a post from Amoeba’s official Instagram page, which said: “Thrilled to receive a Best New Director nomination at the 62nd Golden Horse Awards for our one and only @seeuoo!”

A Foggy Tale, a movie set during Taiwan’s White Terror era of the 1950s, leads the 2025 Golden Horse Awards race with 11 nominations.

It is followed closely by Left-Handed Girl, a film about a single mother who relocates to Taipei with her two daughters and runs a noodle stall at a night market. It has nine nominations.

A Foggy Tale and Left-Handed Girl will vie for Best Narrative Feature with The Waves Will Carry Us, Queerpanorama and Mother Bhumi.

In the Best Director race, A Foggy Tale’s Chen Yu-hsun will be competing against Taiwan’s Tsao Shih-han (Before The Bright Day), Malaysia-born Lau Kek Huat (The Waves Will Carry Us), Hong Kong’s Jun Li (Queerpanorama) and Malaysia’s Chong Keat Aun (Mother Bhumi).

Chinese actress Fan Bingbing is up for Best Leading Actress for Malaysian film Mother Bhumi, nine years after her previous nomination in the same category for Chinese movie I Am Not Madame Bovary (2016).

The 44-year-old will compete against Taiwan’s Caitlin Fang (A Foggy Tale), Rene Liu (Unexpected Courage), Ariel Lin (Deep Quiet Room) and Alexia Kao (Family Matters).

Hong Kong’s Anthony Wong will also face an all-Taiwan slate in the Best Supporting Actor category.

The 64-year-old is nominated for Finch & Midland, a movie on the lives of four Hong Kong immigrants in Ontario, Canada. He will be up against King Shih-chieh (Deep Quiet Room), Brando Huang (Left-Handed Girl), and Tseng Jing-hua and Yao Chun-yao (Family Matters).

Taiwanese child actress Nina Ye, nine, is nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her role as the titular girl I-jing in Left-Handed Girl. Taiwanese actress Janel Tsai, 50, who plays her mother in the film, is also nominated in the same category.

They will vie for the award with Vera Chen (The Waves Will Carry Us), Queena Huang (Family Matters) and Elizabeth Tang (Girlfriends).

Left-Handed Girl is co-written, co-produced and edited by American film-maker Sean Baker, who won Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and Best Film Editing for the genre-bending Anora (2024) at the Academy Awards in March 2025.

The 54-year-old is nominated for Best Original Screenplay alongside Left-Handed Girl director Tsou Shih-ching and Best Film Editing for the movie at the Golden Horse Awards. Tsou, making her solo directorial debut, is nominated for Best New Director.

Left-Handed Girl is also Taiwan’s submission for the Best International Feature Film category at the Academy Awards in 2026.