[2015.04.20] THE 34TH HONG KONG FILM AWARDS

Sammi Cheng presents Best Actress and congratulates Vicki Zhao

Her husband Sean Lau's Best Actor thank you leaves Amy Kwok teary eyed

Sandra Ng is glad to be Ivana Wong's mentor

Ivana Wong

Veteran actor Kenneth Tsang wins Best Supporting Actor

Tang Wei congratulates Ann Hui on her Best Director win

Anthony Wong gives a delightful account of how he ends up presenting Best Director

Shu Qi and Tony Leung Chiu Wai present Best New Performer

courtesy of singtao.com

Lung Kong was remembered during the in memoriam segment

Piaget Asia Pacific chief Dimitri Gouten presents a 18 karat platinum and rose gold amulet to Best Dressed winner Sandra Ng

courtesy of mingpao.com

Sean Lau gets sentimental as he wins Best Actor

Fresh out of the oven Best Actor Sean Lau and Best Actress Vicki Zhao

Vicki Zhao

Sandra Ng congratulates Ivana Wong back stage

Ivana Wong breaks down

Kenneth Tsang thanks the Lord for his health and his award

Ann Hui

Alan Mak and Felix Chong

Ellen Loo wins Best Original Film Song.  Her new beginning is off to a good start.
courtesy of on.cc

The 34th Hong Kong Film Award took place last night at the Cultural center. Sean Lau Ching Wan and Vicki Zhao Wei won Best Actor and Best Actress as favorites with OVERHEARD 3 (SIT TING FUNG WON 3) and DEAREST respectively. Ching Wan won his second Hong Kong Film Award Best Actor while Zhao Wei won her first Hong Kong Film Award Best Actress. THE GOLDEN ERA won five awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction and Best Costume and Make Up Design to become the big winner. Less than perfect though was its lead actress Tang Wei did not win.

Last night Miriam Yeung Chin Wa led five LITTLE BIG MASTER children to present Best Actor. Chin Wa asked them to pick their Best Actor. 3 of the children picked Ching Wan and said that he was very handsome and cool, which made Ching Wan covering his face out of embarrassment. When Ching Wan got to the stage, he jokingly asked the children, "Thank you for making me realize that I am popular with female viewers, but are you sure that you haven't mistake me for (Louis) Koo Tin Lok?" After thanking his family, investors and manager, Ching Wan thanked his wife Kwok Oi Ming. "Female viewers really like to hear this stuff. Every time I drive the spaceship and fly to who know where in space, you always have a way to make me safely return to Earth. Thank you." In the audience Kwok Oi Ming could not be more touched. Winning the Hong Kong Film Award Best Actress with DEAREST, Zhao Wei said that she truly never thought that she would win and originally she already planned to go home and sleep. Thus she truly never prepared any speech. For last year's Golden Horse Awards, she once very seriously wrote a thank you speech while working in the U.S. Unfortunately she did not get the chance to read it. Yet now she was very grateful for the Hong Kong Film Awards' recognition of her, so she was able to recite her speech. "This time I finally can proudly say thank you to (Peter) Chan Ho Sun for giving me this character. Although she is ugly, but she is a beautiful character. As an actor, this character made me feel very happy and got quite a high from playing her. Thank you Hong Kong Film Award jury, I would remember this moment well."

At the back stage interview, Ching Wan thanked everyone very much because he knew before the race many people supported him. Zhao Wei also thanked everyone and felt very honored to win an award. In particular winning with Ching Wan, an actor she liked, was a huge encouragement. The jury recognition of her was a huge affirmation. Ching Wan revealed that in the future he will work on an action film, which he has not made in 20 years. Would Zhao Wei like to work with Ching Wan? She said that of course she would, but she was a little afraid when she heard action film. She specifically liked Ching Wan's dramatic acting.

Nominated ten times for the Hong Kong Film Award and winning for her fifth time, Best Director Ann Hui On Wa said, "At my age, if I don't die, get sick, I get to eat, I am already very happy. This award won't increase my happy index by a lot, but this award is deeply meaningful because it is like it recognized people's sense of adventure, pursuit of creativity and challenge. It may not be a very perfectly great film, but it has this spirit. I am very grateful for this encouragement. Especially at this moment when the film industry is in difficulties, these elements are worth pursuing even more. Thank you boss for your brave investment, and special thanks to Tang Wei and Feng Shaofeng for being with me for six months. In the future I will make films a little bit better." Did she already feel numb after winning five Best Director awards? She said that how could anyone be numb to winning awards. She was still very grateful, but she might not want to win too many in the future. She wanted to save them for new directors. She also praised some directors for having their own ideas. As for Zhao Wei defeating Tang Wei for Best Actress, she praised Zhao Wei for letting her real emotions flow and her great performance. Her heart also ached over Tang Wei's defeat. She also said that in the future she would not make another extreme film. She would be more conventional because she did not want the film not to be a hit. She would make Hong Kong subjects.

Ivana Wong Yuen Chi received five Hong Kong Film Award nominations, aside from three nominations at the same time for Best New Performer she was also nominated for Best Supporting Actress and Best Original Film Song and broke the record. In the end with GOLDEN CHICKEN SSS (GUM GAI SSS) she won Best New Performer and Best Supporting Actress as the favorite.

Winning two in a row, Ivana after going to the stage the first time immediately turned her back toward the camera and pulled her cheat sheet out of her chest. Then she faced the camera to read her thank you speech, but she said that her speech was very easy to read because it was all peoples' names. After thanking several directors, she also gave special thanks to her film mentor Sandra Ng Kwan Yu. "Thank you director (Matt) Chow Hoi Kwong, film mentor Ng Kwan Yu, I learned a lot about film from her. I also have to thank Wong Cho Lam, (Lawrence) Cheng Tan Shui and Yip Lim Sum (Patrick KOng). I am a music creator so I also want to thank (Hins) Cheung King Hin, friend Sit Hoi Kei and Eric So (boyfriend). I really want to quote a song verse, 'Meeting you I am too grateful, not too late and not too early'". Later backstage she ran into Kwan Yu, who as soon as she saw her said, "Let me touch it, not the award, the person." Then they hug and kissed. In her back stage interview she said that she still had many people she has not yet thanked. Why did she put her cheat sheet in her chest? She explained that it was her experience from her concerts. Because her arms had to do other things, she would slip the cheat sheet here and there. This way was both convenient and safe. When she won Best Supporting Actress, she already broke down as she gave her speech in Putonghua on the stage and led to laughter from the audience. Then she thanked again her fellow nominees Paw Hee Ching, Kara Wai Ying Hung and Fiona Sit Hoi Kei. "I sincerely feel that being nominated with you is already my honor. I truly never thought that this new actor could win an award of such caliber. I have to thank Kwan Yu even more and thank you everyone would giving me such a warm welcome, for showing me the film world actually is so rich, beautiful, with so much talent. I have a lot to learn, thank you everyone for giving me a chance to join this colorful world of yours."

Was she disappointed that she did not win Best Original Film Song? Ivana said that originally she was, but the two earlier awards already made her heart spill over so she was not. Her parents was afraid that they would get tired so they did not attend. They stayed home and watched the show on television. As for her boyfriend he was not in Hong Kong. She admitted that after the award show ended, she wanted hot pot casserole the most.

Veteran actor Kenneth Tsang Kong with OVERHEARD 3 won Best Supporting Actor. When he got teary eyed on the stage and thanked people who loved Hong Kong film and put their effort into making the Hong Kong Film Award a grand event. He also pointed to the sky and said, "Thank Him, for giving him good health to work. I hoped that He would continue to support me and bless him with health." His wife Lisa Chiao Chiao was also teary eyed in the audience. Later in his back stage interview, Tsang Kong said that he was very happy to win the award but admitted that it would be more meaningful if he won it when he was younger. He also said that the award was not his alone, the entire team deserved the credit so he should share it with more people. He also felt that the supporting role was even harder to play. Because of less screen time and role than the lead actor, having to make the audience feel in a short period of time was even more difficult.

Tony Leung Chiu Wai and Sandra Ng Kwan Yu won Best Dressed. Kwan Yu was very surprised. "At the time I wanted to go to the bathroom, a worker grabbed me and said that they had something for me. I really never thought about it. I have to hank my daughter because she picked out the dress. (Earlier you had a wardrobe malfunction when you won Best Actress.) I only show after I win."

Singers Miriam Yeung Chin Wa and Jordan Chan Siu Chun host the Hong Kong Film Award the first time. Although Chin Wa was still not well and her voice was a little hoarse, she insisted on working. Her hoarse voice did not affect her performance. When she performed Best Dressed with Hong Kong Film Award host Gordon Lam Ka Tung she joked that Ka Tung needed reading glasses when he needed help with the winner. Yet when she opened the envelope and looked she joked, "Actually I needed it too." Chan Siu might have been nervous and stuttered a little.

In the In Memoriam segment, the Hong Kong Children's Choir performed BLESSING to salute the actors, directors and filmmakers who passed away in the past year. They included Lung Kong, Yoshiko Yamaguchi, Deacon Chiu Te Ken, Michelle Sima Yin, Jimmy Heung Wa Sing, Mak Kei, and the famous DORAEMON voice actor Lam Po Chuen.

THE 34TH HONG KONG FILM AWARDS NOMINATIONS
http://www.hkfaa.com/winnerlist.html

BEST FILM
THE GOLDEN ERA

BEST DIRECTOR
Ann Hui (THE GOLDEN ERA)

BEST SCREENPLAY
Alan Mak, Felix Chong (OVERHEARD 3)

BEST ACTOR
Sean Lau Ching Wan (OVERHEARD 3)

BEST ACTRESS
Vicki Zhao Wei (DEAREST)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Kenneth Tsang (OVERHEARD 3)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Ivana Wong (GOLDEN CHICKENSSS)

BEST NEW PERFORMER
Ivana Wong (GOLDEN CHICKENSSS)

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Wang Yu (THE GOLDEN ERA)

BEST FILM EDITING
David Wu (THE CROSSING I)

BEST ART DIRECTION
Zhao Hai (THE GOLDEN ERA)

BEST COSTUME AND MAKE UP DESIGN
Man Lim Chung (THE GOLDEN ERA)

BEST ACTION CHOREOGRAPHY
Donnie Yen, Stephen Tung, Yuen Bun, Yan Hua (KUNG FU JUNGLE)

BEST ORIGINAL FILM SCORE
Ellen Loo, Veronica Lee (THE MIDNIGHT AFTER)

BEST ORIGINAL FILM SONG
DESTINATION (ABERDEEN)

BEST SOUND DESIGN
Tu Duu Chih (THE CROSSING I)

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Victor Wong, Bryan Cheung (RISE OF THE LEGEND)

BEST NEW DIRECTOR
David Lee Kwong Yiu (INSANITY)

BEST FILM MAINLAND AND TAIWAN
COMING HOME

BEST DRESSED
Tony Leung Chiu Wai, Sandra Ng Kwan Yu

PROFESSIONAL SPIRIT AWARD
Lee Kwun Lung