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Golden Rooster Awards 2021 nominations: patriotic movies dominate China’s top film awards
- Some Chinese internet users have complained that the proliferation of patriotic films has damaged the credibility of the Golden Roosters
- Island Keeper; My People, My Homeland; The Pioneer; Chinese Doctors; and Cliff Walkers were all nominated for best picture
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The belated release of the nomination list for this year’s Golden Rooster Awards, the most prominent film awards in China, has incurred the wrath and bemusement of some Chinese internet users, who complained that the preponderance of patriotic films among the nominees has damaged the credibility of the awards.
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The Golden Rooster Awards are set to be held from December 28 to 30 in Xiamen, in Fujian province. The awards are co-organised by China Film Association and China Federation of Literary and Art Circles.
The state-approved event, founded in 1981, has recently been repositioned as a direct rival to the Golden Horse Awards in Taipei, previously dubbed the “Chinese-language Oscars”, the awards ceremony for which was held on November 27.
Of the six nominees in Golden Rooster’s best feature film category, five of them – Island Keeper; My People, My Homeland; The Pioneer; Chinese Doctors; and Cliff Walkers – tell heavily patriotic stories. They are part of a wave of new features released to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the Chinese Communist Party this year.
Island Keeper is a biopic about the patriotic guard of Kai Shan Island, an important location in the Yellow Sea in Jiangsu province. Another biopic film, The Pioneer, is about Li Dazhao, one of the founders of China’s Communist Party.
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