CHINESE veteran actor Chen Jianbin became the biggest winner at the 51st Golden Horse Awards on Saturday, winning in three of the four categories where he was nominated, including best lead actor and best supporting actor.

    Chen won the best lead actor award for his performance in “A Fool.” The Chinese village drama, which is Chen’s directorial debut, also won him the best new director award. He won the best supporting actor award for his role in the Taiwanese military drama “Paradise in Service.” Chen was also nominated for best adapted screenplay for “A Fool,” which was also nominated for best feature film and best supporting actor.

    Chen, who has the most nominations of any participant this year, thanked his actress wife Jiang Qinqin when accepting the best lead actor award.

    The drama “Blind Massage,” about the love, desires and frustrations of a group of visually impaired massage therapists in Nanjing, won the best feature film award. The movie’s director Lou Ye earlier shared his personal thoughts on the film featuring both blind and sighted actors, saying it was a very difficult project for him.

    The best director award went to Hong Kong director Ann Hui for her film “The Golden Era,” which portrays the turbulent life of Chinese writer Xiao Hong.

    The film had been nominated in five categories. Hui said her win was a surprise and she would have preferred her actress, Tang Wei, to win in the best lead actress category.

    Instead, the award went to a lesser known Taiwanese actress, Chen Shiang-chyi, for “Exit.”

    The best supporting actress award went to Wan Qian for her role as a prostitute in “Paradise in Service,” a coming-of-age story about a young soldier.

    Chinese director Diao Yinan’s “Black Coal, Thin Ice,” a detective thriller set in northern China that won the Berlin International Film Festival’s main Golden Bear prize this year, won the award for best art direction. It had been nominated in eight categories.

    One of the most anticipated events of the evening Saturday night was the performance of Hong Kong singer Jacky Cheung. After 15 years, Cheung took the stage with his signature voice to perform his latest song based on the story of a real-life couple in Taiwan. The song was accompanied by a 22-piece orchestra that featured renowned Taiwanese musicians.

    Another highlight of the evening was the appearance of retired Golden Horse-winning actor Sun Yueh, who came back on screen only to honor veteran actor Tien Feng as the recipient of this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award.

    The annual Golden Horse Awards is one of the most prestigious film honors in the Chinese-speaking world.

    The ceremony was held at the Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall hosted by local TV personalities Huang Zi-jiao and Ella Chen. The panel of judges this year was led by acclaimed actress Joan Chen.

    Thirty-eight films were nominated for 21 awards this year. There was a total of 364 entries, 100 more than last year.(SD-Agencies)