Feng Xiaogang (left) and Fan Bingbing Photo: IC

Films about social realities stood out from the crowd at the 26th Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival in Hohhot, North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on Saturday. 

Grabbing Best Director, Best Lead Actress, and Best Supporting Actor, veteran director Feng Xiaogang's 2016 satirical film I Am Not Madame Bovary became the biggest attention-grabber of the night, especially after news that the film's lead actress Fan Bingbing became engaged to Chinese actor/director Li Chen earlier that day. 

Adapted from Liu Zhengyun's 2012 novel I Am Not Pan Jinlian, the film centers on a rural Chinese woman who sues her husband after he has an affair and divorces her. 

Best Picture prize went to Operation Mekong, an action crime blockbuster based on the actual events surrounding the 2011 Mekong River massacre.

Unlike other government-sponsored films, Operation Mekong, which saw Hong Kong director Dante Lam work closely with Chinese mainland police, became a surprise box-office hit.

Actor Deng Chao won Best Lead Actor for The Dead End, while actors Wang Qianyuan and Yu Hewei split the Best Supporting Actor award for their respective roles in Saving Mr. Wu and I Am Not Madame Bovary.

Actress Wu Yanshu was awarded Best Supporting Actress for Relocate, which delves into issues surrounding residents who are forced to leave their homes behind due to major construction projects. 

Established in 1992, the Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival is the longest-run film festival in the Chinese mainland.