After raking in eight awards at the 39th Hong Kong Film Awards, Hong Kong crime thriller Better Days has been nominated for Best International Feature Film in the upcoming 93rd Academy Awards. Among the five nominations, the films include Denmark's Another Round, Romania's Collective, Tunisia's The Man Who Sold His Skin, and Bosnia and Herzegovina's Qu Vadis, Aida.
Film still from the movie Better Days
Directed by Hong Kong-born director Derek Tsang, Better Days follows the story of a girl who is bullied in school and later becomes entangled in a murder. Starring actress Zhou Dongyu and actor/pop-star Jackson Yee, the film was adapted from the popular Chinese novel Young and Beautiful. Its release in China in 2019 took in over $220 million at the box office. Eventually, it landed eight awards at the Hong Kong Film Awards in 2020, including Best Film, Best Director, Best Picture, Best Screenplay, Best Actress, and Best New Performer.
The nomination marks the first time a Hong Kong-born director has received the honour and the third time a Hong Kong film was ever considered for the Oscars since 1993's Farewell My Concubine starring the late Leslie Cheung, and 1992's Raise the Red Lantern with Gong Li.
Film still from the movie Better Days
Catch the 93rd Academy Awards live on ABC at 8am HKT on Monday, April 26. Visit oscars.org to see the complete list of nominees.
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