After being overlooked in the selection of Hong Kong's candidate
for the best foreign film Oscar, Jiang Wen's "The Sun Also Rises"
will now seek to represent the Chinese mainland in next year's
awards.
Johnnie To's gangster thriller "Exiled" beat off competition
from eight other movies, including "The Sun Also Rises", with more
than half of the 13 votes cast, The Beijing News quoted
Crucindo Hung, President of the Federation of Motion Film Producers
of Hong Kong (FMFP), as saying.
Hung said the selection was made in a "fair and just way" but
See-yuen Ng, President of the Federation of Hong Kong Filmmakers,
disagreed vehemently.
"The whole selection process was flawed because it lacked
transparency. Hong Kong filmmakers only pay lukewarm attention to
the Oscars," he told the Beijing-based newspaper..
In a movie-plot twist, Jiang Wen's assistant, surnamed Li, told
Xinhua that Jiang had never applied for the Hong Kong candidacy in
the first place and had always intended to represent the mainland,
sparking speculation that an agreement had been reached between the
Chinese mainland and the film's Hong Kong-based backer.
With the highly anticipated battle epic, "The Warlords",
officially withdrawn from the running after opposition from its
U.S. backers, the Chinese mainland's Oscar candidate still remains
unknown.
The State Administration of Radio, Film and Television , which
decides the selection, has said it will select one candidate before
October 1 and Li is confident "The Sun Also Rises" will be given
the nod.
"The quality of 'Sun' can be judged by box office figures. We
are confident of beating our biggest rival 'The Knot'," he
said.
"But, the competition is not all about the box office or
quality. The selection mechanism will also have a say in the
result," Li added.
"The Sun Also Rises" is a tale of how the lives of two families
intertwine during the Cultural Revolution. "The Knot", directed by
Yin Li, is a sweeping romantic epic spanning the years since the
1940's and set across China including Taiwan and Tibet.
Ang Lee's Golden Lion-winning thriller "Lust, Caution", will
represent Taiwan at the Oscars.
(Xinhua News Agency September 27, 2007)
