Hundred Flowers confirms culture is hot ticket

Fu Ruoqing, chairman of the China Film Group Corporation, the main producer of the epic, says that Chen and his fellow creators have already dedicated four years to the franchise, adding that the sequel will be released in October, with the third installment scheduled for release next year.

Chang'an, last summer's animated blockbuster, won the Excellent Film Award. Named after the capital of the Tang Dynasty (618-907), the film chronicles the lifelong friendship between two legendary poets, Li Bai and Gao Shi, while also depicting the lives of other renowned literature masters of the era, such as Du Fu and Wang Wei.

Xie Junwei, who codirected the film with Zou Jing, said that the award will encourage him and fellow animators from Light Chaser Animation to make more films about the beauty of Chinese culture and history.

Zhu Yilong won Best Actor for Lighting Up the Stars, a feel-good tale about the father-daughter-like relationship between an orphaned girl and a funeral director. Yang Enyou, the 10-year-old who plays the young girl, accepted the trophy on behalf of Zhu and called the actor, who wasn't able to attend the ceremony as he was shooting a new movie. Zhu expressed his surprise at winning and said that he felt a strong connection to the role.