Florian Zeller’s Academy-Award-winning film, The Father, has nabbed the Best International Film Award at the 34th Golden Rooster Awards ceremony in China. This was the first time that such a category honoring international cinema was introduced in Golden Rooster Awards, which was held on Thursday at Xiamen City. The ceremony chose the honorary winners from the nominees that included films released theatrically in China between the dates July 1, 2020, and July 15, 2021.

According to Variety, The Father competed against Tomm Moore’s animated feature, Wolfwalkers (which also received Best Animated Feature nomination at Oscars), Italian live-action adaptation of Pinnochio, Thai drama, Happy Old Year, and Belarus’ Persian Lessons. Earlier in 2021, The Father received critical acclaim in the United States, with Sir Anthony Hopkins winning the year’s Academy Award in the Best Actor category (which was scrutinized due to Chadwick Boseman losing his posthumous nomination), while Florian Zeller and co-writer Christopher Hampton winning for Best Adapted Screenplay, which was written from Zeller’s own 2014 play, Le Père. The Father was also nominated for Best Picture but lost to Nomadland.

As The Father opened during the pandemic-stricken theatrical shutdown, the film’s domestic success was highly affected, halting at $2.1 Million in the U.S.; whereas, in China, the film earned double its U.S. box-office figures, making it a critical and commercial success in the Chinese markets as it surpassed U.S box-office in 2020 for the first time.

Golden Rooster Awards are backed and administered by the Chinese government and are considered the Chinese equivalent of the Academy Awards. In its 34-year history, this was the first time the ceremony honored a film not made in the Chinese language, creating a special category just like the Oscars’ Best Foreign Language Film (now dubbed as Best International Feature Film). The Chinese government hopes to have Golden Rooster surpass in both significance and fame its rival Golden Horse Awards, which is based in Taipei.

Besides The Father, the year’s attractions were primarily Chinese films Cliff Walkers and One Second, both winning three and two trophies each. Both the films were helmed by veteran director Zhang Yimou, who won Best Director for Cliff Walkers. His One Second won Best Sound Recording and Best Supporting Actor, while Cliff Walkers also won in the Best Actor category. The acclaimed biopic Island Keeper won the Best Picture award, beating five other nominees, which included Yimou’s Cliff Walkers.