Beijing film festival announces Tiantan Award winners

Chinese actors Hai Yitian and Geng Le jointly won the Best Supporting Actor award for their villainous roles in Better Me, Better You and Trapped, respectively.

"I entered the film industry when I was 9 years old to play my first role, a bad boy. Unexpectedly, I could win this prestigious honor by playing another bad guy more than 40 years later," said Hai, who expressed his gratitude to the key creators of Better Me, Better You, a feminist film about a caretaker and a solitary elderly woman.

Geng, who plays a ruthless bandit in the crime film Trapped, said the film marks the directorial debut of Zhang Qi, who gave him the freedom to fully explore and shape his character.

Argentine director Ivan Fund's film The Message picked up three awards - the Best Supporting Actress, the Best Artistic Contribution and the Best Cinematography.

Veteran actress Tian Hua took home the Lifetime Achievement Award for her decadeslong devotion in cinema. Tian's most known films include The White-Haired Girl (1951) and Daughter of the Party (1958).

"All my life, I've stayed true to my roots — serving the people through my art. Never in my wildest dreams did I think that at 97, I'd receive such a great honor. I want to live up to the trust and love of the people. As long as my audience will have me, I'll keep giving my all — for them and for Chinese cinema," said Tian, emotionally.

This year's Tiantan Award saw 1,794 feature movies from 103 countries and regions, with nearly 90 percent of all entries coming from abroad.