Hit crime thriller Infernal Affairs leads the race for the 22nd Hong Kong Film Awards with 16 nominations including best film, best director, for Andrew Lau and Alan Mak, and an impressive five nods in the best actor and supporting actor categories.

The Media Asia production, which topped the Hong Kong box office in 2002 with a haul of $7.1m (HK$55m), also picked up nods for best screenplay, cinematography, editing and action choreography amongst others.

The film's two stars, Andy Lau and Tony Cheung Chiu-Wai, were both nominated for best actor while nods for best supporting actor went to Eric Tsang, Anthony Wong and Chapman To. Wong picked up another two nominations in the supporting actor category for comedy Just One Look and sci-fi drama Princess D.

Zhang Yimou's Hero, also a hit in Hong Kong over the Christmas period, wasn't far behind with 14 nominations including best film, best director, best screenplay and best actress for Maggie Cheung.

The Hong Kong-China co-production also scored big in the technical categories picking up nods for cinematography (Christopher Doyle), art direction (Huo Ting Xiao and Yi Zhen Zhou) and costume and make-up design (Emi Wada), amongst others. Doyle was also nominated for his work on Going Home (Peter Ho-Sun Chan's section of horror omnibus Three) and for his role as visual consultant on Infernal Affairs.

Going Home picked up 11 nods in total including best film, best director, best screenplay and best actor for Leon Lai amongst others. Eugenia Yuan, who plays a dead woman in the film, was nominated for both best supporting actress and best new performer.

Also nominated in the best film category were Fruit Chan's Hollywood Hong Kong, which racked up six nods in total, and Samson Chiu's Golden Chicken, which picked up five. Supernatural thriller Double Vision picked up seven nominations including best screenplay, best actor (Tony Leung Ka-Fai) and best supporting actress (Rene Liu).

The Nominations In Full

BEST FILM
Hero (Exec prods: Bill Kong, Zhang Yimou)
Three (Exec Prod: Jo Jo Hui)
Infernal Affairs (Exec prod: Andrew Lau)
Golden Chicken (Exec Prods: Jo Jo Hui, Peter Chan)
Hollywood Hong Kong (Exec prods: Fruit Chan, Doris Yang, Kei Haruna, Sylvain Bursztejn)

BEST DIRECTOR
Peter Chan (Three)
Fruit Chan (Hollywood Hong Kong)
Zhang Yimou (Hero)
Law Chi Leung (Inner Senses)
Andrew Lau and Alan Mak (Infernal Affairs)

BEST SCREENPLAY
Alan Mak and Felix Chong (Infernal Affairs)
Li Feng, Zhang Yimou and Wang Bin (Hero)
Fruit Chan (Hollywood Hong Kong)
Su Chao Bin and Chen Kuo Fu (Double Vision)
Jo Jo Hui and Matt Chow (Three)

BEST ACTOR
Leon Lai (Three)
Tony Leung Ka-Fai (Double Vision)
Leslie Cheung (Inner Senses)
Andy Lau (Infernal Affairs)
Tony Leung Chiu-Wai (Infernal Affairs)

BEST ACTRESS
Lee Sin Je (The Eye)
Faye Wong (Chinese Odyssey 2002)
Maggie Cheung (Hero)
Sandra Ng (Golden Chicken)
Karena Lam (Inner Senses)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Eric Tsang (Infernal Affairs)
Chapman To (Infernal Affairs)
Anthony Wong (Infernal Affairs)
Anthony Wong (Just One Look)
Anthony Wong (Princess D)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Zhang Ziyi (Hero)
Rene Liu (Double Vision)
Eugenia Yuan (Three)
Tin Yui Lee (Golden Chicken)
Cecilia Yip (May & August)

BEST NEW PERFORMER
Eugenia Yuan (Three)
Wong You Nam (Just One Look)
Wong You Nam (Hollywood Hong Kong)
Wong Chun Chun (The Runaway Pistol)
Kate Yeung (Demi-Haunted)

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Andrew Lau and Lai Yiu Fai (Infernal Affairs)
Christopher Doyle (Hero)
Christopher Doyle (Three)
Arthur Wong Ngok Tai (Double Vision)
Peter Pau (The Touch)

BEST FILM EDITING
Kwong Chi Leung (Three)
Zhai Ru and Angie Lam (Hero)
Pang Brothers (The Eye)
Wen Ze Ming (Double Vision)
Danny Pang and Pang Ching Hei (Infernal Affairs)

BEST ART DIRECTION
Huo Ting Xiao and Yi Zhen Zhou (Hero)
Tony Au (Chinese Odyssey 2002)
Yee Chung Man and Wong Bing Yiu (Golden Chicken)
Tim Yip (Double Vision)
Yee Chung Man (Three)

BEST COSTUME & MAKE-UP DESIGN
Lee Pik Kwan (Infernal Affairs)
Yee Chung Man and Dora Ng (Golden Chicken)
Jessie Dai (Hollywood Hong Kong)
Emi Wada (Hero)
William Cheung Suk Ping (Chinese Odyssey 2002)

BEST ACTION CHOREOGRPAHY
Dion Lam (Infernal Affairs)
Tony Ching Siu Tung (Hero)
Cory Yuen and Guo Jianyong (So Close)
Philip Kwok (The Touch)
Stephen Tung (Princess D)

BEST ORIGINAL FILM SCORE
Cho Sung-Woo and Peter Kam (Three)
Frankie Chan and Roel A. Garcia (Chinese Odyssey 2002)
Chu Hing Cheung and Lam Wah Chuen (Hollywood Hong Kong)
Chan Kwong Wing (Infernal Affairs)
Tan Dun (Hero)

BEST ORIGINAL FILM SONG
Infernal Affairs
Composer: Ronald Ng
Lyric: Lin Xi
Sung by: Tong Leung and Andy Lau

Today Next Year (If You Care)
Composer: Chan Siu Ha
Lyric: Lin Xi
Sung by: Eason Chan

Hero

Composer: Wong Yiu Ming
Lyric: Lin Xi
Sung by: Faye Wong

I Fly (Princess D)
Composer: Jonathan Lee and Sakae Tetsuo
Lyric: Jonathan Lee
Sung by: Lee Sin Je

Visual Secret II
Composer: Eason Chan
Lyric: Lin Xi
Sung by: Eason Chan

BEST SOUND DESIGN
Kinson Tsang (Inner Senses)
Kinson Tsang (Infernal Affairs)
Sunit Asyinikul (Three)
Tao Jing (Hero)
Sansab Team (The Eye)

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Princess D (Wu Jian Rong, Chiu Cheng Ning, Daniel Ho, Alan Tuan)
The Eye (Jack Ho Man Chik, Chiu Wai Chun, Leung Wai Kit, Wong Hin Leung)
Hero (Murray Pope, Richard Schlein, Luke O'Byrne, Ellen Poon)
Infernal Affairs (Christopher Doyle)
Double Vision (Peter Webb)

BEST ASIAN FILM
JSA (Joint Security Area) - South Korea
I Not Stupid - Singapore
Big Shot's Funeral - China
My Sassy Girl - South Korea
The Way Home - South Korea