Snow In Midsummer, co-produced by Singapore, gets 9 Golden Horse nominations

TAIPEI – Historical drama Snow In Midsummer, produced by Singapore’s August Pictures and companies from Malaysia and Taiwan, has bagged the most number of nominations – nine – at Taiwan’s upcoming Golden Horse Awards.

Snow In Midsummer, directed by Malaysian film-maker Chong Keat Aun, is the first movie produced by August Pictures. It stars actors such as Singapore’s Peter Yu, Malaysia’s Pauline Tan and Alvin Wong, and Taiwan’s Wan Fang and Cheng Jen-shuo. 

The movie, set in Kuala Lumpur, follows a Chinese family dealing with the aftermath of the May 13 race riots in 1969. It was awarded the Special Mention Musa Cinema & Arts Award at the recent Venice International Film Festival.

For the Golden Horse Awards, it is up for prizes such as Best Narrative Feature, Best Director for Chong, Best Supporting Actress for Wan Fang and Best Adapted Screenplay.

Chong, 45, was named Best New Director for The Story Of Southern Islet at the Golden Horse Awards in 2020.

Mr Chow Wai Thong, founder of August Pictures, told Shin Min Daily News that the film was shot in Kuala Lumpur and Penang, with filming completed around May 2022.

He told the Chinese-language evening daily that he was a bit surprised by the nine nominations.

“I didn’t expect the first movie to be nominated for so many awards. It’s very encouraging and inspiring,” he said.

Mr Chow said he has always hoped to make films with a rich Nanyang flavour and multiracial elements, and he hit it off with Chong the director.

Mr Chow also praised Wan Fang.

“Wan Fang put in lots of effort during the filming period by actively studying the Nonya culture and learning the Singaporean and Malaysian languages,” he said.