DPM Heng congratulates actress, Singapore films for Golden Horse wins

Politicians here have congratulated actress Yeo Yann Yann for her big win at the 56th Golden Horse Awards held in Taipei last Saturday.

The Singapore-based actress won the Best Leading Actress award for her performance in Wet Season, local film-maker Anthony Chen's much-anticipated second feature-length film.

Yeo, 42, had previously won the Best Supporting Actress award in 2013 for Chen's debut film Ilo Ilo.

Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat congratulated Yeo, who is Malaysian, yesterday.

In a Facebook post, he said he caught the film at the opening of the Singapore International Film Festival last Thursday.

"Anthony Chen, together with the cast and crew, did a wonderful job in this sensitive and moving tale of human relationships," said Mr Heng, who is also Finance Minister.

Wet Season premiered in Singapore last Thursday as the opening film of the Singapore International Film Festival and is now playing in theatres here.

A Land Imagined, the other Singapore film up for awards, won two on the night - for Best Original Screenplay and Best Original Film Score.

Commenting on the award recipients' achievements, Mr Heng said: "Very happy to see our Singapore film-makers getting recognition and rewarded for their hard work! I hope this will continue to inspire and spur our local filmmakers to share more uniquely Singapore stories, at home and abroad!"

Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Grace Fu likewise congratulated the winners in a Facebook post yesterday.

"I am so proud of our artists' achievements. Their dedication and passion to perfect their craft are most inspiring," she said.

Wet Season, about a Chinese-language teacher (Yeo) struggling with infertility, a loveless marriage and workplace problems, was nominated for six awards, including Best Director for Chen and Best Supporting Actor for Koh Jia Ler and Yang Shi Bin. Yeo's award was the film's only win.

A Land Imagined's Singaporean film-maker Yeo Siew Hua went home happy with his Best Original Screenplay win, beating out Chen and other Taiwanese prestige films such as Nina Wu and A Sun.

The last Singaporean to win the award was Chen for Ilo Ilo.

A Land Imagined, about a police investigator who tries to uncover the truth behind the disappearance of a Chinese construction worker at a land reclamation site, had four nominations, including for Best Film Editing and Best Sound Effects.

Its other win for Best Original Film Score saw its Singaporean composer Teo Wei Yong beating out Oscar-winning composer Ryuichi Sakamoto's score for Taiwanese film Your Face.

A Land Imagined has been selected as Singapore's entry in the Academy Awards' Best International Feature Film category, previously known as the Best Foreign Language Film category.