36th Hong Kong Film Awards: Gordon Lam is the New Film King

The 36th Hong Kong Film Awards were held successfully held on Sunday, April 9 at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre. Gordon Lam (林家棟), who has over 30 years of experience in the film and TV industries, won his first Best Actor award for his exceptional performance in the crime film, Trivisa <樹大招風>. Happiness <幸運是我> actress Kara Hui (惠英紅) won her third Best Actress award; during her speech, she tearfully thanked her late mother, who passed away only a few months ago.

Hosted by Ronald Cheng (鄭中基), over 20 awards were handed out at last night’s big event, deemed as Hong Kong’s equivalent of the Oscars. Trivisa was the night’s biggest winner with five awards, including Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Actor, and Best Film Editing. Soul Mate <七月與安生> had 12 nominations—the most of any film—but only won one, Best Original Film Score.

The Best Actor category had three first-time nominees, including Shawn Yue (余文樂), Richie Jen (任賢齊), and his costar Gordon Lam, who won Best Actor. This is the 49-year-old’s third Best Actor win for Trivisa; he also won Best Actor at the Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards and the Hong Kong Film Directors’ Guild Awards.

Gordon said in his speech, “Thank you Johnnie To (杜琪峰), Yau Nai-hoi (游乃海), and our three newcoming directors. After all these years, they were the ones who told me that there is no age to acting. The most important thing is to use your heart. I am proud to be a Hong Kong actor. I want to continue to play characters with just as much soul and heart. Thank you to those who have supported me over the years, such as Catherine Tsang (曾麗珍) and Alex Man (萬梓良)! And also my mother!”

Kara Hui beat out hot contenders such as Nina Paw (鮑起靜), Tang Wei (湯唯), Sandra Ma (馬思純), and Zhou Dongyu (周冬雨) for Best Actress, and was crowned Film Queen for the third time. The Happiness actress was in tears when she accepted her award. On stage, she thanked her director and longtime friend Sobel Chan (陳家樂) for his unwavering support.

She also thanked her late mother: “My hands are cramping. I am so emotional right now because I want my mother to know. She suffered from Alzheimer’s disease. When I first received the offer to do this film, she was already demented. I want to thank my boss [EEG’s] Albert Yeung (楊受成). No film company wanted to do this film because it won’t make money, but he didn’t mind doing it. He wanted society to be more aware of people who are suffering from this condition. I really want my mother to know that I have not shamed you! When I won my first award, my father passed away. Now it’s my mother. She passed several months ago. I really want to tell her that she can be proud of me! I have not shamed our family’s name!”

Check out the full list of winners below:

Best Film: “Trivisa”
Best Director: Frank Hui, Jevon Au, Vicky Wong for “Trivisa”
Best Screenplay: Loong Man-hong, Thomas Ng, and Mak Tin-shu for “Trivisa”
Best Actor: Gordon Lam for “Trivisa”
Best Actress: Kara Hui for “Happiness”
Best Supporting Actor: Eric Tsang for “Mad World”
Best Supporting Actress: Elaine Jin for “Mad World”
Best New Performer: Tony Wu for “Weeds on Fire”
Best Cinematography: Peter Pau and Cao Yu for “See You Tomorrow”
Best Film Editing: Allen Leung and David Richardson for “Trivisa”
Best Art Direction: Alfred Yau for “See You Tomorrow”
Best Costume Make Up Design: Kenneth Yee and Dora Ng for “The Monkey King 2”
Best Action Choreography: Tung Wai for “Operation Mekong”
Best Original Film Score: Peter Kam and Yusuke Hatano for “Soul Mate”
Best Original Film Song: “Anthem of Shatin Martins” for “Weeds on Fire”
Best Sound Design: Kinson Tang and George Lee for “Cold War 2”
Best Visual Effects: Luke Jung, Kim Sung-hoon, Kim Chan-soo, and Kim Chul-min for “The Monkey King 2”
Best New Director: Wong Chun for “Mad World”
Best Film from Mainland and Taiwan: “Godspeed”
Lifetime Achievement: Fong Yim-fun
Professional Achievement: Yuen Tai-yung
Best Dressed: Shawn Yue and Elaine Jin