Macau film premieres at Taiwan’s Golden Horse Awards

The Macau film entry in this year’s Golden Horse Awards in Taiwan has recently debuted to a full house, according to official images released.

Kissing the Ground You Walked On has garnered three nominations at the film awards. The three nominees are emerging film director Hong Heng Fai for Best New Director, audio technician Ellison Lau Chi Keong for Best Sound Effects and director of photography Charlie Sou Wai Kin for Best Cinematography.

To attend the inaugural screening and a subsequent sharing session, the nominees flew to Taipei and appeared before the audience in person.

One of the two actors in a leading role in the film also participated in the post-screening sharing session.

Based on social media check-ins, many Macau residents currently in Taiwan also paid to attend the debut screening.

The Golden Horse Awards and Film Festival organizers have honored the Macau film, as the sharing session was moderated by Wen Tien-Hsiang, chief executive of the film festival and veteran film critic in the Chinese-speaking world.

During his introductory speech, Wen spoke highly of the Macau film, describing the work as “delicate”, with seamlessly matched sound effects and music compositions. Despite being filmed within a tight space, Wen added, Hong managed to present various levels of images and capture appropriately the internal emotions of the roles.

Wen further complimented the expressions of the actors, with particular emphasis on certain passionate scenes, before concluding by highlighting the film as a playful and unique work.

Dubbed the Oscars in the Chinese-speaking world by some, the GHA was inaugurated 60 years ago. Films that have half of their dialog spoken in the Chinese language are eligible for the awards. Silent films will also be eligible if they are directed by an ethnic Chinese director and produced by a crew consisting of a minimum of 50% ethnic Chinese.