Chinese director Ye Lou's new movie Blind Massage was the toast of Taiwan's Golden Horse Awards on Saturday (22Nov14) after sweeping the board with six honours.

The critically-acclaimed Chinese-French drama, based on a novel about a group of blind masseurs working at a parlour in Nanjing, won all but one of the prizes it was nominated for, taking home titles for Best Feature Film, Best Cinematography, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Editing and Best Sound Effects.

Actor Zhang Lei, 41, was also awarded Best New Performer for his role in the film, which was known locally as Tui Na.

However, Ye Lou lost out on Best Director to Ann Hui for The Golden Era, a biopic about Chinese writer Xiao Hong.

Chinese actor-turned-filmmaker Chen Jianbin was another big winner, scooping Best Lead Actor and Best New Director for A Fool and Best Supporting Actor for his other movie, Paradise in Service.

Other honourees at the Chinese-language equivalent of the Oscars included Chen Shiang-chyi, who walked away as Best Lead Actress for Exit, and director Diao Yinan's Black Coal, Thin Ice, which earned Best Art Direction.