the assassin hou hsiao hsien awards bfi

Martial arts film “The Assassin” by Taiwan director  has been voted the best movie of 2015 by British and international critics, according to the British Film Institute (BFI).

The movie, for which Hou won the award for best director at Cannes in May, was favored by 38 out of a total of 168 critics as the top movie of the year, according to the institute, which encourages movie development throughout the United Kingdom and the world.

It beat Oscar-tipped drama “Carol” with 35 votes and action blockbuster “Mad Max: Fury Road” with 33.

Movies “Arabian Nights” (23 votes) and “Cemetery of Splendour” (18) rounded out the top-five list.

The critics, who either work for the BFI or contribute to BFI publication “Sight & Sound,” were asked to nominate the best five films they had seen in the previous 12 months.

“The Assassin” was the only Chinese-language film in the top-20 list.

In addition to being a box office success in both Taiwan and China, “The Assassin” has been collecting awards, including one Golden Horse for best feature film and another for best director in Taipei earlier this month.

In September, the Ministry of Culture decided to submit “The Assassin” as Taiwan’s entry to the 2016 Academy Awards in the foreign language film category.

 

photo source