[2014.04.10] DEREK KWOK: I AM JUST A "KID"

AS TH LIGHTS GO OUT's director Derek Kwok says in comparison to his fellow nominees he is just a 'kid'

Jackie Chan guest stars as the fire chief

Although lead actors Nicholas Tse and Shawn Yue are not nominated, the director is very confident about their future
courtesy of on.cc

This year's Hong Kong Film Award competition is fierce. With its Oscar nominations, THE GRANDMASTER (YUT DOI JUNG SI) received 14 nominations. UNBEATABLE followed with 11 and RIGOR MORTIS with 9. The Derek Kwok Chi Kin directed AS THE LIGHT GOES OUT (GAU FOR YING HUNG) also received 8 nominations. He said about his Best Director nomination, "As soon as I saw the nominee lists, I already went 'wow!' The other four nominated directors are elders, in front of them I am just a 'kid'. Sharing this honor I am already very happy, like I already win. I already thought of how I would celebrate!" As for his choice, he said, "It should be THE GRANDMASTER's Wong Kar Wai, but I really hope it's UNBEATABLE's (Dante) Lam Chiu Yin!"

As for Best Film, he said that it had to be THE GRANDMASTER. Although his film AS THE LIGHTS GO OUT, he pointed out that he was not disappointed. As long as he could keep making movies and people remembered him then it was already a honor.

Speaking of his Best Actor pick, AS THE LIGHTS GO OUT did not receive a nomination but he said that his leads were still young and had time. He picked Nick Cheung Ka Fai to win. As for Best Actress he picked RIGOR MORTIS (GEUNG SI)'s Nina Paw Hee Ching. He said, "Sister Bau's acting is transforming and surprising. If she has to lose to THE GRANDMASTER's Zhang Ziyi, I can only say that her character took up 1/3 of the film!"

For Best Supporting Actor, he felt Anthony Chan Yau had the biggest chance to win. For Best Supporting Actress he picked UNBEATABLE's Crystal Lee. He said, "She is wise beyond her age and hilarious, but her character is very effective and has spark with the male lead. How entertaining the entire film would be depended on her!"

Speaking of AS THE LIGHT GOES OUT's 8 nominations, he stated that he would like to win Best Visual Effects and Best Cinematography the most. He said, "I can say I made roast duck with the cost of sugarcane scrap, from the originally planned 600 special effect shots to 2,000 in the end. In the past when talking about Hong Kong special effects, everyone said that they were poor. Yet this time the team was from Hong Kong, the entire special effects team only had ten people. For such an enormous special effect project with such a price, team and time, I dare to say no one in all of Hong Kong can do it! Only we did!"

The 33rd Hong Kong Film Award Best Director Nominees
Wong Kar Wai (THE GRANDMASTER)
Johnnie To Kei Fung (DRUG WAR)
Benny Chan Muk Sing (THE WHITE STORM)
Derek Kwok Chi Kin (AS THE LIGHTS GO OUT)
Dante Lam Chiu Yin (UNBEATABLE)