Karena Lam accepts her Golden Horse awards in Taipei on Saturday. Photos: CFP

Hou Hsiao-hsien accepts his Golden Horse awards in Taipei on Saturday. Photos: CFP

The award ceremony for the 52nd Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival, one of Asia's major film festivals for Chinese language films, took Taipei by storm on Saturday night.

The Assassin, directed by Taiwanese director Hou Hsiao-hsien, was the night's biggest winner, receiving five major awards, including Best Feature Film, Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Makeup & Costume Design and Best Sound Effects.

The film depicts a young woman played by actress Shu Qi who is abducted by a Taoist nun and becomes a swordswoman after a decade of training. Shu Qi, together with renowned director Ang Lee, presented the award to Hou at the ceremony.

Hou also won the award for Outstanding Taiwanese Filmmaker. In May, Hou had previously won the Best Director award at the 68th Cannes International Film Festival for The Assassin.

Best Leading Actor was awarded to Feng Xiaogang, a well-known mainland director who played the leading role in the film Mr. Six.

Although Feng has appeared in cameos in some films before, this is the first time that he has stepped up as lead actor. In the film, he portrays a former gang member in Beijing who comes out of retirement to save his son to find that the underworld he once knew has dramatically changed.

Director Guan Hu accepted the award on Feng's behalf as the latter was busy holding a concert at Beijing's Workers' Stadium with the cast of Mr. Six and big names in Chinese rock such as Cui Jian, Zhao Chuan, Black Leopard band and the Tang Dynasty Band.

Chinese netizens joked, "Feng isn't just becoming the best leading actor, he's also trying to get into music circles."

Guan read from a speech sent to him by Feng, "I should have won the Best New Performer award, since I'm still new as an actor. Now that I've won this Golden Horse, there's no more room for improvement," Feng's statement read, poking fun at himself.

"Forgive me if I offended you,  professional actors!" Feng later said during a phone call with Guan and media.

Karena Lam won Best Leading Actress for her performance in Zinnia Flower. The film depicts the story of two people who both lost their partners in car accidents trying to continue on with their lives.

Director Jia Zhangke won Best Original Screenplay for his film Mountains May Depart. The film was also on the shortlist for the 68th Cannes International Film Festival.

Winner of multiple international awards, including awards from the Cannes, Venice and Berlin international film festivals, this is Jia's first Golden Horse.

Tharlo, directed by Tibetan director Pema Tseden, won the award for Best Adapted Screenplay.

Strength through inclusiveness

"No matter who wins at the Golden Horse, it will stick to its regular pattern of focusing on art house films and not taking box-office into consideration. Although Taipei is in the festival's name, it also doesn't favor any particular place. Perhaps that's why it has been able to maintain its position among all the other festivals in the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan," writer Mu Wei Er wrote in an article published on entertainment site ifeng.com before the ceremony.

The author is of the opinion that other award ceremonies - be it the Golden Rooster, the mainland's Hundred Flowers award or the Hong Kong Film Awards - are dying to some extent, whereas the Golden Horse continues to have weight because it awards directors and actors  from all regions.

This inclusiveness was still a feature of this year's Golden Horse.

Over the last few years, most awards were granted to films from the Chinese mainland. The mainland's Chen Jianbin took best director, best actor and best supporting actor - three major awards - last year.

Art house films are still a priority at the Golden Horse awards. Most films that won, like The Assassin and Mountains May Depart, have not been released in the mainland yet, or haven't earned big at the box-office.

For instance, this year's biggest box-office hit in China, Monster Hunt, went home from the award ceremony last night empty handed despite receiving four nominations.

Winners at the 52nd Golden Horse film awards

Best Feature Film: "The Assassin"

Best Director: Hou Hsiao-hsien - "The Assassin"

Best Leading Actor: Feng Xiaogang - "Mr. Six"

Best Leading Actress: Karena Lam - "Zinnia Flower"

Best Supporting Actor: Michael Ning - "Port of Call"

Best Supporting Actress: Lu Xue-feng - "Thanatos, Drunk"

Best New Director: Bi Gan - "Kaili Blues"

Best New Performer: Lee Hong-chi - "Thanatos, Drunk"

Best Original Screenplay: Jia Zhangke - "Mountains May Depart"

Best Screenplay Adaptation: Pema Tseden - "Tharlo"

Best Cinematography: Mark Lee Ping-bing - "The Assassin"

Best Visual Effects: Wook Kim - "The Taking of Tiger Mountain 3D"

Best Animated Feature: "McDull: Me & My Mum"