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Martial arts epic leads Hong Kong nominations
2007-02-01
Chinese director Zhang Yimou's historical martial arts epic "The Curse of the Golden Flower" is taking the lead in this year's Hong Kong film awards with 14 nominations, organisers said. The blockbuster, the most expensive Chinese film to date with a budget of 45 million dollars, has won the nods for major categories including best film, best director, best actress for Gong Li and best actor for Chow Yun-fat. The sumptuous movie tells the story of an imperial family which is slowly falling into decline, with battle scenes largely fought out between the sons of the emperor and empress played by Chow and Gong respectively. The film, which has been nominated for best costume at this year's Oscar's, has also been recognised for its costume and make-up design here, as well as in the best supporting actor category for Taiwan's Jay Chou and Liu Ye. Zhang's much lower-key drama, "Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles," has also bagged the nod for best Asian film. Following closely behind was Patrick Tam's art house film "After This Our Exile" with 10 nominations including best picture, director, screenplay and actor for Aaron Kwok, who won at last year's Golden Horse awards in Taiwan. Veteran director Johnnie To picked up two nominations for best picture and director for his gangster flicks "Exiled" and "Election 2," which bagged four and five nods respectively. "Fearless," starring martial arts icon Jet Li, picked up seven nominations including best film as well as best actor for Li's portrait of martial arts master Huo Yuanjiain. Jacob Cheung will be competing in the best director category with costume action-drama "A Battle of Wits." Chinese starlet Zhou Xun was nominated as best actress for her latest movie, "The Banquet" which won seven nominations in mostly minor categories. Kung fu icon Jackie Chan's comedy "Rob-B-Hood" has two nods in action choreography and new performer. The 26th Hong Kong Film Awards will be held on April 15.
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