Crime thriller “Trivisa” bags 5 wins at Hong Kong Film Awards

April 10, 2017 - 10:42 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - Crime thriller Trivisa led the 36th Hong Kong Film Awards with five wins, The Hollywood Reporter reveals.

The Johnnie To and Yau Nai-hoi-produced film swept the best film, best director, best screenplay, and best film editing categories, and leading man Gordon Lam, who played the King of Thieves in 90s Hong Kong, took home his first best actor award. The film's three directors, including Frank Hui and Vicky Wong, made their feature debuts except for Jevons Au, who helmed a part of last year's controversial omnibus best film winner, Ten Years. This is the second consecutive year newcomer Au has contributed to the direction to the best film winner.

This year's awards mark the emergence of a new generation of filmmakers, as not only did Trivisa win with its three new helmers, but also Mad World and Weeds on Fire, which were the directorial debuts of Wong Chun and Steve Chan, respectively. The two films were both made for US$257,000 as winners of the First Film Initiative, sponsored by Hong Kong government department CreateHK. Mad World nabbed three awards while Weeds on Fire took two.

Director Wong Chun of Mad World was named best new director, and the film's best-supporting actor and actress, Eric Tsang and Elaine Jin, each won in their respective categories. Tsang noted that it has been 25 years since the first time he went on stage to take home the best actor statuette for director Peter Chan's Alan & Eric: Between Hello and Goodbye, and he additionally won best supporting actor in 1997 for Comrades: Almost a Love Story, also by Peter Chan. Whereas Elaine Jin, who has been nominated ten times at the Hong Kong Film Awards, won for the fourth time with her portrayal of a temperamental ailing mother taken care of by her bipolar son.

Best Actress winner Kara Wai, for drama Happiness, was also a repeated victor. Wai was named best actress at the first ever Hong Kong Film Awards 36 years ago for her role in My Young Auntie, and subsequently won best actress again for the 2009 film At the End of Daybreak, and took a best-supporting actress award for the 2014 horror pic Rigor Mortis. Wai tearfully revealed in her acceptance speech that she paid tribute in her role as a cognitive disorder patient in Happiness to her late mother, who suffered from Alzheimer disease.

List of Winners at the 36th Hong Kong Film Awards

Best Film - Trivisa

Best Director - Frank Hui, Jevons Au, Vicky Wong, Trivisa

Best Screenplay - Trivisa

Best Actor - Gordon Lam, Trivisa

Best Actress - Kara Wai, Happiness

Best Supporting Actor - Eric Tsang, Mad World

Best Supporting Actress - Elaine Jin, Mad World

Best New Performer - Tony Wu, Weeds on Fire

Best Cinematography - See You Tomorrow

Best Film Editing - Trivisa

Best Art Direction - See You Tomorrow