Sean Lau won for his role as a father in 'Papa', while Michelle Wai won for her role in The Last Dance. Photos: AP, AFP
It was a “family affair” at the Hong Kong Film Awards (HKFA) on April 27, with actors playing family members in the films Papa and The Last Dance clinching acting awards.
Veteran actor Sean Lau, 61, won for his role as a father in Papa, which is based on the 2010 Heung Wo Street murders. The film is set in the aftermath of the tragedy, as the father navigates survivor guilt and seeks reconciliation with his teenage son, who killed his mother and sister.
Lau was previously named Best Actor for Detective Vs Sleuths (2022), Overheard 3 (2014) and My Name Is Fame (2006).
Hong Kong singer-actress Jo Koo, 47, who played his on-screen wife in Papa, and rookie Dylan So, 18, who played his son, won Best Supporting Actress and Best New Performer respectively.
(From left) Edan Lui, Sean Lau, Jo Koo and Dylan So from the film 'Papa' arrive for the 43rd Hong Kong Film Awards on Sunday, April 27, 2025. Photo: AP
Lau thanked the team, Papa’s director and screenwriter Philip Yung and his real-life wife – former actress Amy Kwok – for his win.
The actor also thanked the real-life father on whom the film is based, who gave his approval for the film after Yung had approached him several times.
Meanwhile, the Best Actress award went to hot favourite Michelle Wai in The Last Dance, which explores the meaning of life and death through funeral rituals.
This was the first Best Actress win for Wai, 40, who has been in the industry for 17 years. She won for her role as an ambulance medic who is the daughter of a hard-nosed Taoist priest, played by veteran actor Michael Hui.
Hui, 82, missed out in the Best Actor category, which he last won at the inaugural HKFA in 1982 for the comedy Security Unlimited.
Actor Tommy Chu, who played Hui’s son and Wai’s brother in The Last Dance, was named Best Supporting Actor. This was the first award at the HKFA for the 42-year-old.
The Last Dance, Hong Kong’s top-grossing film in 2024, also won for Best Screenplay, Best Original Film Score and Best Original Film Song.
(From left) Aaron Kwok, director Soi Cheang, Louis Zoo and producer John Chong react with the cast and crew of 'Twilight Of The Warriors: Walled In' after winning the Best Film Award during the 43rd Hong Kong Film Awards. Photo: AP
Twilight Of The Warriors: Walled In emerged as the biggest winner of the night after clinching nine awards, including for Best Picture and Best Director for Soi Cheang.
Cheang, 52, also won Best Director for the mystery drama Mad Fate at the HKFA in 2024.
A crime action film set in the notorious Kowloon Walled City in the 1980s, Twilight Of The Warriors was based on the novel City Of Darkness by writer Yuyi and the comics of the same name by artist Andy Seto.
The film featured Hong Kong stars such as Raymond Lam, Louis Koo and Sammo Hung, as well as younger actors like Terrance Lau, Tony Wu and German Cheung.
Twilight Of The Warriors also claimed other awards such as Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, Best Art Direction and Best Action Choreography.
Koo, 54, who played the godfather of the Walled City, said during the Best Film acceptance speech that he hoped to see the younger actors taking the Hong Kong movie industry to the next level in subsequent HKFAs.
Tony Leung Chiu-wai (left) and Carina Lau attend the 43rd Hong Kong film awards. Photo: AP
The Best New Director went to Robin Lee for the documentary Four Trails, while the Best Asian Chinese Language Film went to Taiwan’s Old Fox, directed by Hsiao Ya-chuan and starring actor Liu Kuan-ting.
The Lifetime Achievement Award went to director Tsui Hark and film producer Shi Nan Sun. – The Straits Times/Asia News Network
