Legal drama 'Port of Lies' tops Golden Bell Awards nominations

Taipei, Sept. 11 (CNA) The nominees for Taiwan's 2024 Golden Bell television awards -- the country's top TV awards -- were announced on Wednesday, with legal drama "Port of Lies" (八尺門的辯護人) receiving a leading 16 nominations.

The limited series, which focuses on ethnicity and the death penalty in an effort to shine a light on stories about marginalized communities in Taiwan, was one of five nominees selected for Best Miniseries or Television Film award.

Other individual nominations include for best directing, best writing, best leading actor and best leading actress awards.

The show faces tough competition from "Imperfect Us" (不夠善良的我們), which received 13 nominations, including two for Best Leading Actress.

In the series, which features a love triangle, both leading actresses Ariel Lin (林依晨) and Hsu Wei-ning (許瑋甯) were praised for their portrayal of complex female characters.

The Best Television Series category also saw fierce competition, with family story "Living" (有生之年) leading with 10 nominations, and nine each for urban romance "At the Moment" (此時此刻) and fantasy drama "Oh No! Here Comes Trouble" (不良執念清除師).

Those shows also received multiple nods in categories for leading actors and actresses, among others.

The nominees include Wu Kang-ren (吳慷仁) and Yang Kuei-mei (楊貴媚) from "Living," as well as Terrance Lau (劉俊謙), Puff Kuo (郭雪芙) and Alyssa Chia (賈靜雯) from "At the Moment."

Hsueh Sheng-fen (薛聖棻), who led the TV series awards' selection committee, said the jury had struggled to narrow down their choices due to the exceptional quality of this year's candidates.

"This year, many outstanding works have been submitted for the same award, leading to significant competition," she pointed out. "This presents a rigorous challenge for the judges and increases the difficulty of their discussions."

Meanwhile, a special contribution award will be presented to director Liang Hsiu-shen (梁修身) and deceased photographer Huang Po-hsiung (黃柏雄).

The awards ceremony will be held on Oct. 18-19 at National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall in Taipei when awards in a total of 48 categories will be presented, with 1,848 entries from 119 companies.