The 43rd Hong Kong Film Awards (HKFA) took place at Tsim Sha Tsui’s Hong Kong Cultural Centre on April 27, honouring the best of local films and our city’s cinematic talents. A total of 17 Hong Kong films and 5 Asian Chinese-language films were nominated for awards, and if you’ve kept an eye on our city’s movie industry and reviews over the past year, then it should come as no surprise that Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In was pretty much the runaway winner.
Soi Cheang’s martial arts epic was nominated in 14 categories at the HKFA 2025, and ended up winning nine awards, for Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, Best Art Direction, Best Costume & Makeup Design, Best Action Choreography, Best Sound Design, Best Visual Effects, as well as the top prize of Best Film. This action thriller set in the old Kowloon Walled City of the 80s is one of Hong Kong’s most successful pictures in recent years, attracting at least 1.59 million box office views since premiering in May 2024, was chosen to represent our city in the Best International Feature Film category at the Oscars, and was also shown in the Midnight Screening of the Cannes Film Festival 2024.
The Last Dance was also a firm favourite for many, receiving the most number of nominations at this year’s HKFA at 18 categories. This drama about a Taoist priest and a wedding planner who team up to run funeral services won a total of five awards, including Best Screenplay, Best Original Film Score, and Best Original Film Song. Notably, Michelle Wai won Best Actress for her work in this film, while Tommy Chu took home the Best Supporting Actor award, winning against other established talents such as Louis Koo, Paul Chun Pui, Siuyea Lo Chun-yip, and Philip Ng. The Last Dance is Hong Kong’s highest-grossing film.
Meanwhile, the honour of the Best Actor award went to Sean Lau for his role in the gripping and heartwrenching drama Papa. Other nominated actors in the category include Raymond Lam for Twilight of the Warriors, Neo Yau Hawk Sau for The Way We Talk, Michael Hui for The Last Dance, and Aaron Kwok for Rob N Roll. This marks Lau’s fourth win in this category of the HKFA, and just last month, he also won Best Actor for this movie at the 18th Asian Film Awards. In total, Papa clinched three wins last night, including Jo Koo for Best Supporting Actress and Dylan So for Best New Performer.
Other notable awards handed out at the HKFA include Robin Lee winning Best New Director for Four Trails, which documents endurance runners taking on one of Hong Kong’s most daunting athletic challenges. The Taiwanese film Old Fox by Hsiao Ya-chuan was also awarded Best Asian Chinese Language Film. Finally, veteran Hong Kong filmmaker Tsui Hark and his long-time professional and romantic partner Shi Nan Sun were both honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award for their work in the Hong Kong film industry since the 80s.
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