“The White Storm 2” Selected to Represent HK in Oscars’ International Feature Film Category

The Federation of Motion Film Producers of Hong Kong has selected Herman Yau’s (邱禮濤) crime thriller The White Storm 2 – Drug Lords <掃毒2天地對決> to enter the international feature film category for 2020 Oscars.

The 92nd Academy Awards, which will be held in February 9, 2020, accepts film submissions from non-American films to compete for Best International Feature Film. Previous films produced by Hong Kong that were nominated for Best International Feature include Raise the Red Lantern <大紅燈籠高高掛> and Farewell My Concubine <霸王別姬>.

Any Hong Kong film released between October 2018 and September 2019 are eligible to compete for the 2020 Oscars. The White Storm 2 was chosen by majority vote.

Last year, Operation Red Sea <紅海行動> represented Hong Kong to compete. While the film did not get nominated in the end, its selection was heavily criticized by Hong Kong moviegoers, because the film’s main cast were comprised of all mainland Chinese actors.

The White Storm 2 stars Andy Lau (劉德華) as a financial tycoon who offers a HK$100 million bounty to anyone who manages to eliminate Hong Kong’s top drug dealer, played by Louis Koo (古天樂).

Despite the film’s box office success, many netizens were surprised that the Federation of Motion Film Producers chose The White Storm 2 to represent Hong Kong, as the film Still Human <淪落人> directed by Oliver Chan (陳小娟) received unanimous acclaim by critics, including multiple Best New Director wins for Chen and Best Actor wins for Anthony Wong (黃秋生). Still Human’s source material and societal impact is also in line with the qualifications for the category.

Winnie Tsang (曾麗芬) of Golden Scene Company, the studio behind Still Human, confirmed that she had submitted Still Human to compete for nomination. She is “disappointed” with the film’s disqualification.

Source: HK01.com

This article is written by Addy for JayneStars.com.