On May 26, the 30th Shanghai TV Festival Magnolia Award announced the list of nominees for Chinese TV series. Among them, "I Am a Criminal Policeman", "People in the Alley", and "The Story of Roses" received 7 nominations each, "When the Mountain Flowers Bloom" and "My Altay" received 6 nominations each, and "Border Water Memories" received 5 nominations. In this year's list of nominees, except for the two costume dramas "Celebrating Yu Nian Season 2" and "National Beauty", all other works are realistic contemporary themes, spanning multiple genres such as suspenseful criminal investigation, urban life, period family, and literary adaptation. It is enough to show that the "Magnolia Award" still favors realistic masterpieces and attaches importance to the balanced development of multiple genres.
The nominees for this year's Best Director are mainly middle-aged and new-generation directors. Fei Zhenxiang and Zhang Kaizhou are less than 50 years old, which is the prime of their lives, while Mou Xincen (Lao Suan) and Teng Congcong are new-generation directors born after 1985. The nominees for this year's Best Director are full of outstanding new forces, which undoubtedly excites the industry and also reflects the industry spirit of this year's Magnolia Awards to encourage new talents in the industry. Among the screenwriter awards, there are also many young new faces in the adapted screenwriter award, such as screenwriter Da Mi, who was nominated for the first time with "People in the Alley", and the young screenwriter team of "Bianshui Past" and "My Altay".
In terms of the Best Actor, the competition for this year's award was fierce. The nominees Jin Dong, Wang Xiao, and Yu Hewei are all recognized as excellent "acting bones" by the industry and audiences. There is also Zhang Ruoyun, a young actor who has been considered in recent years to have both popularity and strength.
"Chess Player" starring Wang Baoqiang
But among these nominees, Wang Baoqiang's nomination is still particularly eye-catching. In the TV series "The Chess Master", Wang Baoqiang, with his extremely delicate acting skills, reversed his previous comedy style and portrayed a Go teacher who gradually fell into the abyss of desire and crime. His performance was impressive.
In the Best Actress category, there are not only Ma Yili, who played the free and strong "Zhang Fengxia" in "My Altay", but also Song Jia, who played the tenacious and great "Zhang Guimei" in "When Flowers Bloom in the Mountains", and Yan Ni, who played the forbearing and gentle "Huang Ling" in "People in the Alleys". All of them have contributed new and wonderful female characters to domestic TV dramas during this award cycle, and they are definitely female characters with the power of the new era. In addition, two popular young actresses, Liu Yifei and Yang Zi, were nominated for their two hit dramas, "The Story of Roses" and "The Beauty of China".
In "People in the Alley", Zhuang Chaoying, the "Xiaozhuang" who made the entire Internet audience angry, Wang Anquan who said "My name is Wang Anquan, it's safest to find me" in "Waterside Past", and Fang Xiewen who said "Who on earth is in Beijing?" in "Rose Story", all left a deep impression on the audience and left a hot topic on the Internet that can withstand the "search" of time. Their creators Guo Xiaodong, Jiang Qiming, and Lin Gengxin also lived up to expectations and were nominated for the Best Supporting Actor award.
Five actresses, Jiang Xin, Lan Xiya, Ma Su, Wan Qian and Wu Yue, were nominated for the Best Supporting Actress Award. This year, the competition for this award was the most intense. Jiang Xin's performance in "Alley People" was outstanding. As a young newcomer, Lan Xiya impressed everyone in "When the Mountain Flowers Bloom". Ma Su's performance in "I Am a Criminal Police" broke through her usual image. Wan Qian's character creation in "The Story of Roses" was very consistent with her personal charm and style, and was unforgettable. Wu Yue's "rebellious mother" in "180 Days Restart Plan" was amazing. No matter which of them won the award, it would not be surprising.
"Alley People" Jiang Xin
However, I personally predict that Jiang Xin has been nominated for the "Magnolia" award many times before for "Ode to Joy" and "Old Farmers", but has never won the award. This time, the vivid character of Song Ying she plays breaks through Jiang Xin's previous framework of "misery" or "strength", showing a more three-dimensional performance level. Perhaps, this time she will be able to realize her dream of winning the Magnolia award.
Stills from My Altay
For the best photography and art, I would boldly guess that one of the two films, My Altay and National Beauty, will win. After all, when My Altay was broadcast, the entire network was amazed by the picturesque scenery of Xinjiang. The difficulty of its photography lies not only in the reasonable proportion of scenery and characters, but also in the difficult scheduling design to complete the original work and the prose-poetry narrative of the script.
Stills from "The Beauty of China"
"National Beauty" takes "Peony" as its theme, and its wonderful presentation of the heyday of the Tang Dynasty is amazing. In order to present the beauty of peony, it uses difficult operations such as using multiple greenhouses to cultivate off-season flowers. It makes people feel that the rigorous and serious art team deserves a "Best Art" award.
The Magnolia Awards this year will be announced at the "Magnolia Blossom" awards ceremony on June 27. Let us look forward to which of this year's excellent domestic TV dramas will be lucky enough to receive the recognition and shine in this blessed land of Shanghai.
