Winners of the 37th Hundred Flowers Awards, one of the longest-standing and most prestigious honors in the Chinese film industry, were announced in Chengdu, the provincial capital of Sichuan in southwest China, on Sunday.
Zhang Yimou took home the Best Director Award for his comedy film "Article 20," inspired by real-life cases about justified defense.
This was the eighth time the 74-year-old director won the Hundred Flowers awards, but the first time to win as best director.
Article 20 also earned Ma Li the Best Actress Award, while Best Actor Award went to Zhu Yilong for the film Lighting Up the Stars, a feel-good tale depicting the father-daughter-like relationship between an orphaned girl and a funeral director.
Director Chen Kaige's epic The Volunteers: To the War, which panoramically retells the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea (1950-53), won the Best Film Award.
Chang'an, the animated blockbuster hit of last summer, won the Excellent Film Award.
Initiated in 1962, the awards were the first cinematic honors generated through audience voting in China.
Hundred Flowers Awards winners announced
After enduring a relentless heatwave, East Africa is now bracing for heavy rains this month, with experts attributing the shift to fluctuating ocean temperatures.
Since December, the region has endured scorching heatwaves, with temperatures surpassing 40 degrees Celsius and inflicting widespread damage on crops.
"The prolonged dry period which resulted from the diversion of the moisture which should have come to East Africa, due to the cyclone, exacerbated the situation. And the temperature recorded was higher than what is expected," said Dr. Bob Alex Ogwang, Executive Director of the Uganda National Meteorological Authority.
An expert highlighted that the Indian Ocean Dipole, a climate phenomenon driving regional rainfall, is in its positive phase and will likely boost rainfall in the region.
"The Indian Ocean is the one which is close to us. And in the Indian Ocean, we have what we call the Indian Ocean dipole. This is looking at the temperatures between the western part and eastern part. And the current phase of the Indian Ocean dipole is in a positive phase. Whenever we have that positive phase of the Indian Ocean dipole, our rains are enhanced," explained Alex Nimusiima, a climate scientist and senior lecturer at Makerere University in Uganda.
Forecasts for the region indicate below-average rainfall starting March across southern and western Uganda, much of Somalia, eastern and northern Kenya, and parts of Ethiopia and Eritrea.
Experts warn that from April to May, East Africa could see both an increase in rainfall intensity and frequency.These rains have become more dangerous in recent years, causing widespread destruction. For instance, last year, severe flooding and landslides affected many areas across East Africa.
According to disaster reports from 2024, over 1.6 million people were affected by various disasters caused by heavy rains, with more than 400,000 displaced.
"As a country, we are extremely vulnerable and that is why the focus of the government is to make sure that all citizens adapt to the likely risks and impacts of climate change. Therefore, adaptation is our preferred method of managing climate change risks and shocks," said Alfred Okot Okidi, Permanent Secretary with the Ugandan Ministry of Water and Environment.
East Africa braces for heavy rains after scorching heatwave
