Joan Chen (The Last Emperor, Twin Peaks) has been awarded the Best Actress Award at the Turin International Film Festival for her lead role in Melbourne based director Tony Ayres’ feature film The Home Song Stories. The film screened in competition at the Festival which concluded at the weekend.
The role of ‘Rose’ in the Ayres written and directed film has won Joan Chen considerable praise and attention internationally and in Australia. She recently IF Award for Lead Actress and was nominated for the Best Actress in the Asia Pacific Film Awards. She will this week travel to Melbourne where she is nominated for the Best Actress Award at the Australian Film Institute awards which are announced on Thursday night in Melbourne.
After the AFI awards she will travel to Taipei with Tony Ayres and Joel Lok (the 13-year-old Melbourne actor who won Best Actor at the IF Awards for his role as ‘Tom’ in the film) to attend the Golden Horse Awards. The Golden Horse Awards – sometimes referred to as ‘the Asian Oscars’ – will be announced on Saturday night. The Home Song Stories has received seven nominations in the Golden Horse Awards, including Best Film, Best original Screenplay and Best Actress for Joan Chen. Only the Taiwanese local Ang Lee has received more nominations – for his latest film Lust Caution.
Joel Lok has created something of a sensation in the Asian cinema world by receiving 2 nominations in the Golden Horse Awards. The Asian press have been asking ‘Who is this Australian boy Joel Lok who is receiving nominations with very well known Asian actors in the awards?’
Joel recently took time off from his busy school schedule to travel to Turin as a guest of Turin International Film Festival to present The Home Song Stories in competition. Lok also has an AFI nomination for his work in The Home Song Stories.
[release from Big and Little Films]