Malaysian actress Yeo Yann Yann wins Best Actress at Golden Horse Awards

Malaysian actress Yeo Yann Yann with her award for Best Leading Actress at the 56th Golden Horse Awards in Taipei, Taiwan. Photo: AP

Malaysian actress Yeo Yann Yann won the Best Actress award at last Saturday's Golden Horse Awards in Taiwan, for her role in Singaporean director Anthony Chen's Wet Season, in which she plays a teacher struggling with infertility and a loveless marriage.

Yeo, who had previously won the Best Supporting Actress award in 2013 for Ilo Ilo (also directed by Chen), beat another Malaysian actress to the gong – Lee Sinje, who had been nominated for her role in The Garden Of Evening Mists.

Co-produced by Malaysia's Astro Shaw and HBO Asia and based on Tan Twan Eng's best-selling novel of the same name, The Garden Of Evening Mists, had been nominated for nine awards, but only managed one win, in the Best Makeup and Costume Design category.

Another Malaysian co-produced film, Nina Wu, won for Best Sound Effects, while longtime Taiwan-based Malaysian-born director Tsai Ming-liang won Best Documentary for Your Face.

Taiwan's Golden Horse Awards are among the most prestigious film awards in the world of Chinese language cinema. Established in 1962, the awards have given recognition to numerous excellent filmmakers working in Chinese-language cinema.

The awards ceremony on Saturday saw Taiwanese films A Sun and Detention winning five awards each. Family drama A Sun, won the major awards, including Best Narrative Feature (the equivalent of the Oscar's Best Picture), Best Director for Chung Mong-hong, Best Leading Actor for Chen Yi-wen, Best Supporting Actor for Liu Kuan-ting, and Best Film Editing.

Video game adaptation Detention, which is the highest-grossing Taiwanese film of the year, won John Hsu the Best New Director award, as well as Best Visual Effects, Best Art Direction and Best Adapted Screenplay.

Here is the full list of winners:

Best Narrative Feature: A Sun

Best Director: Chung Mong-hong (A Sun)

Best New Director: John Hsu (Detention)

Best Leading Actor: Chen Yi-wen (A Sun)

Best Leading Actress: Yeo Yann Yann (Wet Season)

Best Supporting Actor: Liu Kuan-ting (A Sun)

Best Supporting Actress: Winnie Chang (The Teacher)

Best New Performer: Fandy Fan (We Are Champions)

Best Original Screenplay: A Land Imagined

Best Adapted Screenplay: Detention

Best Cinematography: The Scoundrels

Best Visual Effects: Detention

Best Art Direction: Detention

Best Makeup and Costume Design: The Garden Of Evening Mists

Best Action Choreography: The Scoundrels

Best Film Score: A Land Imagined

Best Original Film Song: The Day After Rain, from Detention

Best Film Editing: A Sun

Best Sound Effects: Nina Wu

Best Documentary: Your Face

Best Live Action Short Film: 3 Generations 3 Days

Best Animated Short Film: Gold Fish

Audience Choice Award: A Sun