Singapore films Wonderland and A Year of No Significance win at the 37th Golden Rooster Awards

Two Singapore films, Chai Yee Wei’s Wonderland and Kelvin Tong’s A Year of No Significance, won the Most Anticipated Chinese-Language Films award at China’s Golden Rooster Awards, on Friday (Nov 15).
The awards, now in its 37th year, are part of the Golden Rooster & Hundred Flowers Film Festival. The Most Anticipated Chinese-Language Films category celebrates Sinophone cinema – films produced in Chinese, outside mainland China.
Chai, who directed Wonderland, attended the ceremony in Xiamen, China, together with cast members Mark Lee and Peter Yu. “It was an honour to be amongst the best in Chinese cinema receiving this award. Totally unexpected and so grateful that the themes in Wonderland resonated with the audience at the festival,” he said in a press release from Mocha Chai Laboratories, which produced the film. 
Lee echoed the sentiment in the release: “So happy that this film was so well received by the China audience at the screening and at the same time, we won the most anticipated Chinese-language film too! What a great achievement for the whole team.”
Yu, who stars in both winning films, reflected on the win: “I am here representing two Singapore films, and I cannot believe that both films were given the same award! Sharing the stage with both the directors is going to be one of the highlights of my career.”
Producer and writer Michelle Chang expressed gratitude to Singapore audiences for supporting Wonderland: “Thank you to our fellow Singaporeans who had supported this uniquely Singaporean film in the theatres and gave it such a great run at the box office.
“Immensely grateful that Wonderland has taken on a life of its own and is still winning hearts all over the world. Very soon, Singaporeans will be able to stream Wonderland in the comfort of their homes.”
Set in 1979, A Year of No Significance follows Yu’s character, Lim Cheng Soon, a middle-aged architect struggling with personal and professional challenges due to the difficulties he has not speaking English.
In Wonderland, Lee plays Loke, a single father who sells his kampung house to send his daughter Eileen, played by Xenia Tan, to the United States. When tragedy strikes, their neighbour Tan (played by Yu) and the community come together to protect Loke from the painful truth.
Wonderland has garnered multiple accolades this year, including at the Ho Chi Minh City International Film Festival in April, where Lee won Best Actor, and Yu, Best Supporting Actor. The film also won the Local Jury Award at the Palm Springs International Film Festival in January this year.