Timothy Yeung’s Finch & Midland and Chong Keat Aun’s Mother Bhumi are opening in Hong Kong amid controversy after being dropped from the contenders list of the upcoming Hong Kong Film Awards (HKFA), where the best Asian Chinese-language film category has also been removed without explanation.
They are two of four films missing from a list of eligible titles sent to HKFA voters last week, the others being Vincci Cheuk’s Vital Signs and Valley Of The Shadow Of Death, directed by Jeffrey Lam and Antonio Tam.
The list, which was also published on the HKFA website, comprises 47 films such as Golden Boy, Someone Like Me, Ciao UFO and Back To The Past, detailing contenders across all 18 categories.
Films that have met HKFA criteria, which include playing in Hong Kong cinemas for seven consecutive days between January 1 and December 31 last year and having fulfilled the requirements for a Hong Kong production, are considered automatically.
However, despite being deemed eligible contenders, the four titles missing from the list will not be considered for nomination.
Screen has reached out to HKFA for comment but there had been no response at time of press and no official explanation has yet to be given.
Local media has speculated over political sensitivities. Both Anthony Wong, who is in Finch & Midland and Valley Of The Shadow Of Death, and Neo Yau of Vital Signs, have previously been outspoken about their views. Mainland Chinese actress Fan Bingbing, who won best actress at the Golden Horse Awards in November for her role in Malaysia-set Mother Bhumi but did not attend the ceremony, mostly works outside China following her 2018 tax scandal and has not had her works shown in the mainland since.
As recently as last year, Yau earned a best actor nomination at HKFA for The Way We Talk, while Wong received the same nomination for The Sunny Side Of The Street in 2023. Neither won.
HKFA was also mired in controversy in 2023. Ying Wa Girls School wanted to withdraw To My Nineteen-Year-Old Self, the coming-of-age documentary that it commissioned, after it was nominated, but it went on to win the best film prize. When taking questions from the press backstage after the awards ceremony, HKFA chairman Derek Yee said that after a long deliberation, the HKFA association decided not to exercise its rights to cancel the film’s nomination but let the voters decide.
Yeung: “I haven’t thought about the awards”
Finch & Midland played Vancouver International Film Festival and Hong Kong Asian Film Festival last year and opened in Hong Kong last Thursday (January 15). Wong earned a Golden Horse best supporting actor nomination for his performance in the film, which follows four Hong Kong immigrants from the 1990s in Canada whose lives remain a struggle 30 years later. It will be released in Canada on February 13 in major cities such as Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver and Calgary through Equinoxe Films.
“I have always tried to make films to authentically represent our communities and share stories worldwide so we can build empathy and see we’re more alike than different,” Canada-born Hong Kong director Yeung told Screen about his feature debut. The Toronto-based director is in Hong Kong for the film promotion, taking part in multiple meet-and-greet screenings with local audiences.
“Seeing Finch & Midland light up Hong Kong cinemas has been a dream come true,” he said. “Meeting with different Hong Kong audiences from all aspects of life and seeing them connect with the story and characters is a true blessing.”
The filmmaker added: “A Hong Kong theatrical release is already incredible. I really haven’t thought about the awards and hope to be there one day.”
Mother Bhumi, scheduled to open in Hong Kong on January 29, sees Fan play a farmer and shaman who lives on the Malaysian-Thai border. Malaysian director Chong, who faced strict censorship issues in his home country with previous film Snow In Midsummer, has another film Pavane For An Infant on HKFA’s nomination contenders list this year.
Paramedic drama Vital Signs, which stars Louis Koo, was the closing film of 2023’s Hong Kong International Film Festival (HKIFF) and is backed by One Cool Film Production with the support of Hong Kong Film Development Fund.
Valley Of The Shadow Of Death centres on a pastor played by Wong, who is torn between forgiveness and retribution. The drama is backed by the Federation of Hong Kong Filmmakers and played in Tokyo’s Asian Future competition in 2024 and in HKIFF’s Firebird Awards competition last year.
HKFA nominations voting ends on January 23. Compared to previous editions, the nominations voting pertains only to 18 categories as the best Asian Chinese-language film category has been removed from the contenders list.
Last year, the nominations announcement was made on February 14, with the red-carpet awards night taking place on April 27. The dates for the upcoming 44th edition have yet not been revealed.
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