Meet one of Chinese cinema’s brightest stars ... at 14

Vicky Chen is a laid-back 14-year-old with an easy smile, but the Taiwanese actress is already a force to be reckoned with, nominated for two major awards at the Chinese-language equivalent of the Oscars.

Chen could make history on Saturday as the youngest ever contender to be crowned best actress at the Golden Horse film awards in Taipei.

Local media have dubbed her a “prodigy” able to play complex characters in movies that tackle a range of difficult subjects.

Chen is nominated for the best actress award for her role in Angels Wear White, in which she plays a runaway who witnesses a sexual assault and struggles between her conscience and saving her job by staying quiet.

She is also up for best supporting actress in Taiwanese director Yang Ya-che’s thriller The Bold, the Corrupt and the Beautiful, in which she takes the role of an upper-class heiress in a family gripped by dark political and business intrigues. The film includes a scene in which her character is raped.