Clara Law and Eddie Fong announce their arrival at Taiwan, as the first overseas awards presenters of the 59^th Golden Horse Awards. Clara won the Best Director last year with her Drifting Petals; her husband Eddie is also her best creative partner, as producer, writer, cinematographer and editor. This year, in addition to attending the grand ceremony of Golden Horse Awards, they will share their experience and insights of hand-made cinema with the participants of the Golden Horse Film Academy. Clara also brings another surprise for the festival in November – world premiere of her recently restored debut feature They Say the Moon Is Fuller Here. Another significant mission for the directorial duo is to collect materials for the sequel of Drifting Petals.

Clara and Eddie have migrated to Australia for years. After the long-haul flight and mandatory quarantine, they visited the Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival Executive Committee on September 5^th. Clara notes, “some people used to say I am the most unfortunate director, for all the nominations and never winning. However, to my big surprise, last year I finally won it! And yet, the most rewarding part is to make my films seen by more people.” Eddie added a note on winning the award, “it’s more exhausting” and Clara instantly rephrased, “but movies and filmmaking are our life, and these creations are our children, so it’s labor of love.” How do the duo create and deliver amazing works over the years? These interactions and chemistry say it all.

The digitally restored They Say the Moon Is Fuller Here, to be world premiered at the Golden Horse Film Festival, is Clara Law’s thesis film for her Master’s degree at National Film and Television School. Unlike most thesis films being the short format, Clara has to convince the school and make this debut feature a reality against all odds. When the camera was ready to roll, the producer struggled to find the leading actress, so Clara took the lead and transited before and behind the camera as the actress and the director. Her persistence and efforts eventually pay off as the film won the silver award at the Chicago International Film Festival. The 16mm print of this film has accompanied her to Australia and stayed on the shelf for long, and this year with the support of Wong Ain-ling Funds, it was finally restored. Clara humbly says she is kind of shy on the screening of her debut, but Eddie thinks this work definitely shows her unchanged intention and passion for filmmaking.

Clara and Eddie also express their gratitude to the Golden Horse for helping with the visa application so they could extend their stay for almost three months, for the field research of the sequel of award-winning Drifting Petals. Clara notes that many of their productions since the Farewell, China (1990) has somewhat related to Taiwan. This year they also look forward to having a deeper exploration to the island and inspiration for their next project.

The 2022 Golden Horse Film Festival is from November 2^nd to November 20^th. The 59^th Golden Horse Awards Ceremony will be held on Saturday, November 19^th at the National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall in Taipei; online streaming of the ceremony exclusively on MyVideo. For more information please check the Golden Horse official website.