Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi is on cloud nine after winning two awards at the Macau International Movie Festival on Wednesday (Dec 21).

The 43-year-old won Best Director and Best Actress for the four-part anthology drama My Country, My Parents, and posted on Weibo on Wednesday night a photo of herself with the two trophies.

The Grandmaster (2013) actress wrote: “Thank you for the love, Macau International Movie Festival. A person will continue to shine with hard work. Good night to me and my trophies.”

Zhang made her directorial debut in the segment Poem, in which she also starred as a mother. It tells the story of a family behind the development of China’s first space satellite, Dongfanghong I.

She beat illustrious names such as Zhang Yimou, Tsui Hark and Derek Yee in the Best Director category, and saw off contenders such as Li Bingbing, Sandra Ng and Carina Lau in the Best Actress category.

The Best Picture award was shared by two films: Chinese war epic The Battle At Lake Changjin II and Hong Kong science-fiction film Warriors Of Future. The Best Actor award went to Chen Baoguo of In Search Of Lost Time.

Liu Yifei poses with her trophy in a photo posted on Weibo on Dec 21, 2022. Photo: Liu Yifei/Weibo

Chinese-American actress Liu Yifei was also a winner at the Macau International TV Festival held on the same day.

The 35-year-old won Best Actress for her role as Zhao Pan’er, a shrewd businesswoman who runs a teahouse, in the Chinese period series A Dream Of Splendor.

The Mulan (2020) actress posted on Weibo a photo of herself with the trophy on Wednesday night. She wrote: “Thank you to the festival for affirming the role of Pan’er. It is a good New Year’s gift and I would like to thank director Yang Yang and all the crew members of A Dream Of Splendor.”

The Best TV Series award went to The Ideal City, while the Best Actor award went to Wang Kai of Like A Flowing River 2. – The Straits Times/Asia News Network