Award category shines spotlight on Chinese talent

Xu Haofeng (center) won the best director award of Asian Brilliant Stars for the martial-arts film The Master. [Photo provided to China Daily]

It may be a bit early to predict the winners of this year's Berlinale International Film Festival, but a newly launched event has drawn European attention to top Chinese talent.

Asian Brilliant Stars－an award category for Asian movies, the first in the festival's history of more than 60 years－announced the three winners in the German capital on Sunday.

Liu Zhenyun, one of China's most acclaimed writers, took the best scriptwriter award for his art-house drama Someone to Talk To, based on his bestselling novel of the same title.

Ye Ning, vice-president of Huayi Brothers Media Corp, claimed the best producer honor for the firm's unlikely romance The Wasted Times.

And author-turned director Xu Haofeng won the best director award for The Master, a 1930s tale tracing the roots of Chinese kung fu in northern China.

The three winners to some extent represent the Chinese bid to do art-house films despite the pressures of the box office.

Richard Shen, secretary-general of Asian Film and Television Promotion, says the awards aim to showcase top Chinese film talent to the West.

The event is a joint initiative of Asian Film and Television Promotion, China Radio and Television Association and the Beijing Film Academy.