China's Golden Rooster Awards winners announced

XIAMEN -- Winners of the 36th Golden Rooster Awards were announced Saturday evening in Xiamen, East China's Fujian province.

Winners of 20 awards for the best actor, actress, director and feature film, among others, were announced at the highly-anticipated closing ceremony of the 2023 China Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival.

The fantasy epic "Creation of the Gods I: Kingdom of Storms" snatched up two trophies -- best feature film and best cinematography -- to become one of the biggest winners.

The movie is the first installment of a trilogy based on the household Chinese fantasy novel "Investiture of the Gods," which features mythological stories taking place in ancient China's Shang Dynasty (1600-1046 B.C.) and Western Zhou Dynasty (1046-771 B.C.).

Tony Leung Chiu-Wai from Hong Kong won the best actor award for his performance in "Hidden Blade," a drama set in a turbulent Shanghai during the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression (1931-1945).

The best actress award went to He Saifei for her performance in "Off the Stage," a feature film telling the story of a Shaoxing Opera star and her family.

Animated feature "Chang An," a summer holiday blockbuster depicting the stories of the "Immortal Poet" Li Bai of the Tang Dynasty (618-907), won the Best Animation award.

Launched in 1981, the Golden Rooster Awards is a national event sponsored by the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles and the China Film Association.