Tony Ayres, Melbourne based writer and director of the feature film The Home Song Stories, last night won the Best Original Screenplay Award in the 44th Golden Horse Awards held in Taipei. Actress Joan Chen also won the Award for Best Actress for her portrayal of Ayres’ mother in the film which was produced in Melbourne last year by Liz Watts (Porchlight Films) and Michael McMahon (Big and Little Films).
The Golden Horse Awards are held annually in Taiwan and are known as the ‘Asian Oscars’. They are the most coveted Chinese language film prizes and were presented last night in a stadium packed with 10,000 people at a ceremony that was broadcast live to millions throughout Asia.
In accepting his award Ayres acknowledged the important role that culture plays in bridging the gap between countries and how proud he was to accept the Taiwanese award for the story about how his Chinese mother migrated to Australia with his sister and him as small children in the 1960’s.
Ayres said: ‘I hope that this film and this award will help audiences understand more about the migration experience. And I also hope that the recent election of a Mandarin speaking prime minister in Australia is an indication that Australia will have closer cultural ties with the countries of Asia.’
Ayres also acknowledged the important role of the Australian backers of The Home Song Stories – including the Film Finance Corporation of Australia, Film Victoria, SBS Independent and the Adelaide Film Festival – and of Singapore’s MediaCorp Raintree Pictures.
Ayres acceptance speech was translated into Mandarin for the live and broadcast audience. This was not necessary when Joan Chen (The Last Emperor, Twin Peaks) stepped on to the stage to accept her Best Actress Award for her role as Rose in The Home Song Stories.
Also attending the awards ceremony was 13-year-old Melbourne school boy Joel Lok who had two nominations in the Golden Horse Awards. He last month won the Best Actor Award at the IF Awards in Australia for his role as Tom in The Home Song Stories.
The awards in Taiwan top off a very successful year for The Home Song Stories which premiered at the Berlin Film Festival in February this year. It has also screened at many other international film festivals, including the Toronto International Film Festival, the Edinburgh International Film Festival, the Turin International Film Festival (where Joan Chen won the Best Actress Award for her role) and the Hawaii International Film Festival (where the film won the Golden Orchid Award for Best Feature Film).
The Home Song Stories has also topped the Australian film awards season. It won five Inside Film Awards which were presented on the Gold Coast last month and eight Australian Film Institute Awards which were presented in Melbourne last week.
The Home Song Stories is also Australia’s official entry in the Best Foreign Language Film category of the 2008 Academy Awards.
[release from Big & Little Films]