Better Days sweeps 12 nominations at Hong Kong Film Awards

Sammi Cheng received a Best Actress nomination for her role in Fagara.
Sammi Cheng received a Best Actress nomination for her role in Fagara. PHOTO: FILMGARDE CINEPLEXES

HONG KONG • The cast of Better Days can look forward to the best outing - among all rivals - at the Hong Kong Film Awards after it picked up a leading 12 nominations.

The film, about a schoolgirl who is a victim of bullies, is recognised with nominations in all the prestigious categories - Best Movie, Best Director (Derek Tsang), Best Actor (Jackson Yee), Best Actress (Zhou Dongyu) and Best Screenplay.

According to the screendaily portal, Better Days, which was yanked out of the Berlin film festival last year reportedly because of Beijing's unease over the subject matter of bullying, eventually made more than US$200 million (S$278 million) when it was released in China.

Better Days is trailed closely by family drama Fagara, which earned 11 nominations, including Best Film, Best Director and Best Actress for Sammi Cheng.

Poverty melodrama I'm Livin' It is in close pursuit with 10 nods, including Best Film and Best Actor for Aaron Kwok.

In the race for Best Actress, Zhou and other nominees will likely benefit from a splitting of votes for Cheng who also got the nod for another film, Fatal Visit.

But fans will not be able to cheer on their favourites at the awards ceremony, which has been cancelled because of the coronavirus outbreak.

The organisers said a ceremony is risky since about 400 staff will have to work together to pull it off.

According to The Standard, the event will now be recorded and broadcast in May.


THE NOMINEES

Best Film

• Better Days

• Fagara

• Suk Suk

• I'm Livin' It

• The New King Of Comedy

Best Director

• Derek Tsang (Better Days)

• Kiwi Chow Kwun-wai (Beyond The Dream)

• Ray Yeung (Suk Suk)

• Heiward Mak Hei-yan (Fagara)

• Wilson Yip (Ip Man 4: The Finale)

Best Actor

• Jackson Yee (Better Days)

• Louis Koo (A Witness Out Of The Blue)

• Tai Bo (Suk Suk)

• Chu Pak-hong (My Prince Edward)

• Aaron Kwok (I'm Livin' It)

Best Actress

• Zhou Dongyu (Better Days)

• Cecilia Choi Si-wan (Beyond The Dream)

• Sammi Cheng (Fagara)

• Stephy Tang (My Prince Edward)

• Sammi Cheng (Fatal Visit)

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on February 14, 2020, with the headline Better Days sweeps 12 nominations at Hong Kong Film Awards. Subscribe