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Will Michelle Yeoh be in the house? Will “The Sparring Partner” sweep the top prizes? Mak Pui-tung (centre) and Yeung Wai-lun (right) in a still from “The Sparring Partner”. Photo: Handout

Lifestyle Entertainment

Hong Kong Film Awards 2023 predictions: will The Sparring Partner sweep the top prizes? Will Michelle Yeoh be in the house?

The 41st Hong Kong Film Awards features fewer movies than normal, and some, including The Sparring Partner and Warriors of Future, are heavily nominated
Film editor Edmund Lee predicts the winners in 19 categories, from newcomer Mak Pui-tung for best actor to Sammi Cheng’s nod for best actress

Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

Edmund Lee

Published: 7:15pm, 12 Apr 2023

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Ahead of the 41st Hong Kong Film Awards ceremony on April 16, Post film editor Edmund Lee reflects on the prospects of all the major contenders and predicts the likely winners.

The Sparring Partner

This true-crime mystery/court drama by first-time director Ho Cheuk-tin became the major front runner with its 16 nominations almost by a technicality: there were only 33 films in contention for this edition of the awards after Hong Kong cinemas were closed for four months in 2022 because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Murder mysteries have rarely been a mainstream attraction in the city but The Sparring Partner, based on a gruesome double murder that made plenty of headlines in 2014, defied the odds to take in over HK$40 million (US$5.1 million) in the box office and become the highest grossing locally produced film ever in Hong Kong with a Category III – adults-only – rating.

Louisa So (centre), a best actress nominee at the Hong Kong Film Awards, in a still from “The Sparring Partner”. Photo: Handout

It remains to be seen if the highly stylised film can translate its dominance of the nominations into honours – although things are looking positive. Do not be too surprised if Ho’s film ends up taking most, if not all, of the top prizes on Sunday, like best picture, best director and best screenplay.

If everything goes its way, even new actor Mak Pui-tung, who plays the dim-witted friend and possible accomplice of the murderer, may edge out his more seasoned competitors Anthony Wong Chau-sang (The Sunny Side of the Street) and Louis Cheung Kai-chung (The Narrow Road) to be crowned best actor.

Warriors of Future

The highest grossing Hong Kong film of 2022 and currently the second highest of all time, this mega-budget sci-fi spectacle produced by and starring actor turned movie mogul Louis Koo Tin-lok has been nominated in 11 categories, including best picture.

While few would expect this generic commercial hit to be named best film even from a pool of contenders as limited as this year’s, there is every likelihood that it will take home the awards for action choreography and visual effects, while splitting the other technical prizes with Where the Wind Blows, the glossy crime epic directed by Philip Yung Tsz-kwong.

Detective vs Sleuths

After winning the best director prize for this film at the Hong Kong Film Critics Society awards in January, industry veteran Wai Ka-fai should have at least an outside chance of winning in the same category at the Hong Kong Film Awards.

Yet despite his film earning 11 nominations, it is a distinct possibility that the director and co-screenwriter will go home empty-handed. Best actor nominee Lau Ching-wan, for instance, has turned in far more memorable performances elsewhere than he does here.

Whether Wai can snatch an unlikely win for his screenplay or direction will depend on how willing the voters are to reward a film for its conceptual audacity – this moral fable is the only film to date since the imposition of Hong Kong’s national security law to portray police character(s) as pure evil – in spite of some laughably chaotic storytelling.

Table for Six

A Lunar New Year comedy that was postponed because of the pandemic and then repackaged as a Mid-Autumn Festival release, the second feature by writer-director Sunny Chan Wing-sun exceeded all expectations at the 2022 box office and currently ranks third on the list of all-time highest grossing locally made films in Hong Kong.

The third film to secure 11 nominations, albeit not one for best picture, this dialogue-driven ensemble comedy may have its best chance in the best screenplay category – after all, its jokes resonated with audiences to such an extent that the film was adapted for a theatre production at the Hong Kong Arts Festival in February.

Still, it’s more likely than not that Table for Six will stay in the shadow of The Sparring Partner.

The Narrow Road

Another exceptional film that will have to settle for crumbs amid The Sparring Partner’s likely dominance, this poignant working-class drama set during the pandemic may be best value for the original film score prize out of its 10 nominations, having already won in that category at the 2022 Golden Horse Awards in Taipei.

Louis Cheung Kai-chung has the potential to cause an upset in the best actor race after clinching that honour at the Hong Kong Film Critics Society awards, while emerging actress Angela Yuen Lai-lam will have to wait her turn, given the fierce competition in the best actress category.

Lam Sum may only be a long shot for either best director or best new director despite making the best film – in this writer’s opinion at least – out of all the nominees.

Lam first made his name as a co-director on the politically incendiary protest drama May You Stay Forever Young (2021) and, given the pro-establishment stance of plenty of film bosses in Hong Kong, it’ll be a surprise to see him being rewarded on the local industry’s biggest stage this soon.

To My Nineteen-Year-Old Self

One of the most talked about titles of 2022, Mabel Cheung Yuen-ting’s campus documentary was the favourite to take home the industry’s top prize before an ethical scandal – involving the filmmakers’ apparent disregard for their young student subjects’ objections to its public screening arrangements – saw it pulled from cinemas.

The film was named best picture by the Hong Kong Film Critics Society before its fall from grace, and went on to score the same honour at the Hong Kong Film Directors’ Guild Awards even after that.

Ying Wa Girls’ School, which commissioned the film, immediately turned down its best picture nomination (although it is theoretically still in contention, as the Hong Kong Film Awards does not decide its pool of candidates by submission from the producers).

All the bad press must have put a damper on Cheung and her co-director William Kwok Wai-lun’s hope of winning best director. But it’s still quite possible for To My Nineteen-Year-Old Self to win the best editing prize for the film crew’s sheer determination during production: it reportedly took 10 years to shoot and another three to edit.

The best actress race

Best actress nominee Sammi Cheng in a still from “Lost Love”. Photo: Flowing Water Production

The two most likely winners in this category both represent their respective films’ best chance for an award on Sunday: Sammi Cheng Sau-man for the affecting foster care drama Lost Love; and Sylvia Chang Ai-chia for A Light Never Goes Out, a gentle story of grief that eulogises Hong Kong’s tradition of neon sign making.

Although the latter was named best actress for her part at the Golden Horse Awards in November, it does look to be the year in which Cantopop superstar Cheng will finally win her first acting prize at the Hong Kong Film Awards – especially after getting close, with two nominations, in the 2020 edition.

The winners in the awards’ 19 categories will be announced on April 16 at a ceremony at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre in Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon – with Oscar-winning actress Michelle Yeoh all but confirmed to be in attendance. It will be broadcast live on ViuTV from 7.30pm.

Sylvia Chang, a best actress nominee, in a still from “A Light Never Goes Out”. Photo: Handout

Our predictions for the winners of all categories:

Best film: The Sparring Partner

Best director: Ho Cheuk-tin (The Sparring Partner)

Best screenplay: The Sparring Partner

Best actor: Mak Pui-tung (The Sparring Partner)

Best actress: Sammi Cheng (Lost Love)

Best supporting actor: Michael Hui (Where the Wind Blows)

Michael Hui Koon-man, a favourite in the best supporting actor race, in a still from “Where the Wind Blows”. Photo: Mei Ah Entertainment

Best supporting actress: Harriet Yeung (The Sparring Partner)

Best new performer: Jer Lau (Mama’s Affair)

Best cinematography: Where the Wind Blows

Best film editing: To My Nineteen-Year-Old Self

Best art direction: Where the Wind Blows

Best costume and make-up design: Warriors of Future

Best action choreography: Warriors of Future

Best original film score: The Narrow Road

Jer Lau Ying-ting, nominated for best new performer, in a still from “Mama’s Affair”. Photo: Emperor Motion Pictures

Best original film song: Mama’s Affair

Best sound design: Warriors of Future

Best visual effects: Warriors of Future

Best new director: Ho Cheuk-tin (The Sparring Partner)

Best Asian Chinese language film: In Search of Lost Time

Read the full list of nominations here.

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