Celebrating the very best of Hong Kong cinema, the 2025 Hong Kong Film Awards once again brought out the cityโs brightest stars and creative visionaries for the 43rd time on 27 April. It was a banner year for film in the 852, with box office records broken, daring themes explored, and a plethora of work from seasoned and emerging talent both behind and in front of the camera. While it was undoubtedly a huge year for the action epic, โTwilight of the Warriors: Walled In,โ there was more than enough love to go around for a truly exciting year of cinema.
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After 20+ Years In Development, โTwilight of the Warriors: Walled Inโ Sweeps Top Prizes
A cinematic achievement over 20 years in the making, โTwilight of the Warriors: Walled Inโ swept many of the top prizes at the 2025 Hong Kong Film Awards, including Best Film โ after failing to launch several times over the years since the 2000s. Set in the historic Kowloon Walled City in the 1980s, the film follows a troubled young man who accidentally stumbles into the notoriously lawless Walled City and must fight through the ordered chaos.
After shuffling through several legendary directors over the years such as John Woo and Johnnie To, the film eventually landed in the capable hands of Soi Cheang โ who earned the Best Director award for the second year in a row (after winning last year for โMad Fateโ). The action thriller was a marvel of action sequences within incredibly reconstructed sets of the now-demolished Kowloon Walled City, rightfully dominating technical categories like Film Editing (Cheung Ka-fai), Cinematography (Cheng Siu-keung), Action Choreography (Kenji Tanigaki), Art Direction (Mak Kwok Keung and Chau Sai Hung Ambrose), Costume & Makeup Design (Bruce Yu and Karen Yip), Sound Design (Yiu Chun-hin, Cheung Man-hoi, and To Burnard Davy), and Visual Effects (Lin Chun Yue Jules, Ma Siu Fu, Garrett K Lam, and Yee Kwok Leung).
Highest-Grossing Domestic Film In HK, โThe Last Dance,โ Turns Dollars Into Trophies
Exploring layered themes surrounding Hong Kong’s deathcare services, โThe Last Danceโ follows a wedding planner as he enters the funeral industry by partnering with a traditional Taoist priest. With a script perusing the meaning of life and death in parallel with funeral rituals, the drama film broke numerous box office records โ becoming Hong Kongโs highest grossing domestic movie of all time, with over HKD$152 million in box office earnings.
In addition to the exceptional script winning Best Screenplay (Chan Mou Yin Anselm and Cheng Wai-kei), the musical elements of โThe Last Danceโ picked up awards for Best Original Film Score (Chu Wan Pin) and Best Original Film Song (Terence Lam). Meanwhile, the incredibly moving performances that brought the film to life were also honoured, with Michelle Wai winning Best Actress as the priestโs daughter and Chu Pak Hong taking Best Supporting Actor as his son โ both delivering nuanced performances alongside Michael Huiโs portrayal of the strict Taoist priest Master Man.
At The Heart Of โPapaโ: Award-Winning Performances That Resonate
While some Hong Kongers may already be familiar with details of the 2010 Heung Wo Street murder case, โPapaโ explores this real-life crime as a family drama through a nonlinear narrative. In a script created with input from the real-life father at the root of the story, the film follows a grieving father who grapples with understanding the circumstances of his mentally ill teenage son murdering his mother and sister.
Rather than approaching the story as a cut-and-dry true crime drama, writer and director Philip Yung focuses on the personal relationships before and after the crime โ capturing some extraordinary acting performances from the cast. As the titular papa, seasoned actor Sean Lau won Best Actor for the fourth time, while Jo Koo picked up Best Supporting Actress for her role as the Hakka immigrant wife and mother. First-time actor Dylan So also took home Best New Performer โ signally a promising start for a newly discovered talent.
Honouring Both Emerging And Established Filmmakers
Besides honouring the recent yearโs finest films, the 2025 Hong Kong Film Awards also took the time to recognise a few industry veterans. The award for Professional Achievement went to Jiang Xiaoliang and Han Dongqing, while the Lifetime Achievement award went to legendary filmmakers Tsui Hark and Nansun Shi โ the two having created numerous projects together and even founded their own film studio.
Additionally, the award for Best New Director, which famously first went to Stephen Chow for โShaolin Soccer,โ went to Robin Lee for the documentary film โFour Trails.โ As a British director who was born and bred in Hong Kong, Lee certainly represents the diverse, far-reaching nature of Hong Kong cinema โ with a film showcasing the beautiful and unyielding nature of the city, no less.
Born in Korea and raised in Hong Kong, Min Ji has combined her degree in anthropology and creative writing with her passion for going on unsolicited tangents as an editor at Friday Club. In between watching an endless amount of movies, she enjoys trying new cocktails and pastas while occasionally snapping a few pictures.
