Sammi Cheng wins Hong Kong Film Awards Best Actress at seventh attempt after over 20 years

HONG KONG – Hong Kong superstar Sammi Cheng has finally won Best Actress at the Hong Kong Film Awards (HKFA) on Sunday, after six previous nominations over 20 years.

The 50-year-old nabbed the accolade for her role as a mother trying to overcome the death of her young son by becoming a foster parent in the drama Lost Love, which is showing in Singapore cinemas.

The singer-actress also won Best Original Film Song for the film’s song, Live A Life, at the ceremony held at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre.

“The Best Actress award seemed out of reach for me, even when it was just a step away sometimes,” Cheng, who bested fellow nominees Sylvia Chang, Teresa Mo, Louisa So and Angela Yuen, said in an emotional acceptance speech on stage.

She received her first HKFA Best Actress nomination in 2001 for the romantic comedy Needing You.

“I switched to drama performances after being seen as a comedy actress. It took lots of effort and I encountered many difficulties.”

She added: “Everyone has seen the transformation in my performances today. I have finally crossed the finishing line and am no longer an also-ran.”

Cheng, who was named

Best Actress by the Hong Kong Film Critics Society

for the same role in January, said in an interview backstage on Sunday that she would celebrate the win at home with her husband, Hong Kong singer-actor Andy Hui.

Taiwanese thespian Chang, 69, was the hot favourite going into the HKFA, as she had already won

Best Actress at Taiwan’s Golden Horse Awards in November 2022

for her role as a devastated widow who attempts to carry on her late husband’s business of making neon signs in the drama, A Light Never Goes Out.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong actor Sean Lau won his third Best Actor award for his role as a former police chief inspector in the crime thriller Detective Vs Sleuths, which also starred Charlene Choi and Raymond Lam.

Lau, 59, previously won in this category for My Name Is Fame (2006) and Overheard 3 (2014).

Detective Vs Sleuths was the big winner of the night with four awards – Best Director for Wai Ka Fai, Best Screenplay and Best Cinematography in addition.

But it was controversial school documentary To My Nineteen-Year-Old Self that went home with the top prize, Best Film.

The coming-of-age documentary directed by Hong Kong film-maker Mabel Cheung follows the lives of six schoolgirls over a decade. It was pulled from theatrical release in February after one of the schoolgirls wrote in a letter published by Ming Pao Weekly that she had not agreed to public screenings in cinemas as she initially thought the shoot was for an internal project.

Clips of the movie were not screened at the HKFA and Cheung was not present at the ceremony. Co-director William Kwok and other crew members went on stage to accept the Best Film trophy instead.

Best Supporting Actor went to Hong Kong’s Michael Hui for playing the principal investigator of the Independent Commission Against Corruption in Where The Wind Blows, while Best Supporting Actress went to Hong Kong singer Ivana Wong for her role in the ensemble comedy Table For Six. This was her second Best Supporting Actress honour, having won for comedy film Golden Chickensss in 2015.

Hong Kong singer-actor Bowie Wu, 91, received the Lifetime Achievement Award.

Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh, who made history in March by becoming

the first Asian to win Best Actress at the Oscars

for her role as laundromat owner Evelyn Wang in the film Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022), also attended the ceremony.

She presented Best New Performer to 10-year-old Sahal Zaman, who was born in Pakistan, for his role in The Sunny Side Of The Street, which also starred Anthony Wong.