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Wang Jingchun and Yong Mei share best actor awards at Germany’s Berlinale for Chinese saga ‘So Long My Son’

  • Pair play couple who live through the Cultural Revolution and explores the fallout from the one-child policy
  • Israeli director Nadav Lapid won the Golden Bear top prize at the film festival for Synonyms

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Chinese actor Wang Jingchun (L), Silver bear for Best Actor in the film “So Long, My Son” (Di Jiu Tian Chang) and Chinese actress Yong Mei, Silver Bear for best actress in the same film pose after the awards ceremony of the 69th Berlinale film festival on February 16, 2019 in Berlin. Photo: AFP

Wang Jingchun and Yong Mei won Silver Bears for best actor and best actress respectively for their joint lead roles as husband and wife in Chinese director Wang Xiaoshuai’s epic family saga So Long My Son at the Berlin Film Festival on Saturday.

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The two play a couple who live through the vicissitudes of life in China as it emerges from the chaos of the Cultural Revolution and rises to become today’s economic superpower.

“This is the tragedy of a woman, a family that loses its son,” Yong said as she picked up her trophy.

“We were happy we were able to complete the film.”

Jury president Juliette Binoche had earlier expressed “regret” that another Chinese film, veteran Zhang Yimou’s One Second, was pulled from the competition during the festival reportedly due to official censorship.
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“Zhang has been an essential voice in international cinema,” she said.

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