Mainland steals the show at HK Film Awards nominations

Three largely mainland-based films dominate this year's Hong Kong Film Awards, sharing 28 nominations among them.

The Curse of the Golden Flower, directed by mainlander Zhang Yimou, leads the chase with 14 nominations. Chow Yun-fat, in the running for the best actor award, is the sole Hong Kong representative among the film's nominees in the non-technical categories.

The movie - produced by Edko Films - is up for best film, best director, best actress (Gong Li) and best supporting actor (Jay Chou and Liu Ye).

Feng Xiaogang's The Banquet finished with seven nominations, two of those going to Hong Kong's Oscar-winning art director and costume designer Tim Yip Kam-tim.

Fearless, the biopic of the late martial arts master Huo Yuanjia, also received seven nominations.

In a year that saw only 51 local productions making the cinemas, the most successful Hong Kong filmmaker in the past year was undoubtedly Patrick Tam Ka-ming, whose film After This Our Exile is in the running for 10 awards.

It has been a triumphant return to filmmaking for the new-wave stalwart, whose previous film, My Heart Is That Eternal Rose, came out in 1989. Apart from best director, Tam is also in the race for best screenplay (alongside Malaysia's Tian Koi Leong) and best art direction (with Cyrus Ho Kim-hung).