Welcome to Asia in Cinema‘s first Hong Kong Film Awards Live Blog. For those not familiar with our previous work, you can see our last HKFA Live Blog on LoveHKFilm.com.

In our typical low-tech way, the latest update will be on top, so if you want to start from the beginning, scroll to the very bottom and work your way.

You can catch a live stream of the awards if you’re in one of the 21 countries and regions listed on the page.

23:24 – And that’s it for the 36th Hong Kong Film Awards Live Blog. Thanks so much for following tonight! And check out the wrap-up story coming in a bit.

23:22 – Total count for the night: TRIVISA with 5 awards. MAD WORLD with 3 awards. WEEDS ON FIRE, MONKEY KING 2 and SEE YOU TOMORROW with 2 awards. HAPPINESS, SOUL MATE, COLD WAR 2, OPERATION MEKONG with one award each.

23:21 – And the winner for Best Film is…..TRIVISA. 5 awards total as the biggest winner of the night.

23:16 – The creative forces of Cinema City – Karl Maka, Raymond Wong, Shek Tin, Nansun Shi, Teddy Robin (and a sleeping Eric Tsang) – on stage to present the Best Film Award. Tsui Hark is notably missing.

The seven used to write scripts in a 80 square feet room during their golden era.

23:14 – Lam: “I’m proud of being a Hong Kong actor because it nourished me.”

23:12 – And the Best Actor award goes to……..Gordon Lam for TRIVISA. This is his first nomination for Best Actor and first win. He’s been nominated three times for Best Supporting Actor.

TRIVISA now leads the night with four awards.

By the way, SHED SKIN PAPA won’t be seen in Hong Kong until August.

23:10 – Leon Lai makes a rare appearance on stage to present Best Actor.

23:02 – Wai: “I made this film for my mother. She had dementia for over a decade. When I took this film, she was bed-ridden. I wanted more people to be aware of this illness and that those who suffer from it deserves more care.” Wai’s mother passed away several months ago.

She also thanks Emperor Motion Pictures for making the film without caring about profits.

23:00 – And the Best Actress award goes to…….Kara Wai for HAPPINESS. This is her third nomination and the third win in the category.

Wai just tripped on the way up to the stage. Ouch. And she’s in tears.

22:57 – Zhang Ziyi on stage now to present Best Actress.

22:56 – Wong thanks the Fresh Wave for making all this possible. All three directors participated in the competition before getting their shot here.

22:51 – And the Best Director Award goes to…..Frank Hui, Jevons Au, Vicky Wong for TRIVISA! Now it ties with MAD WORLD as the two leading films of the night.

This part of the night won’t be on Chinese internet – Jevons Au co-directed TEN YEARS, and TRIVISA is virtually banned in China despite being a co-production.

Netizen comment on Weibo confirmed that the live feed was cut off when TRIVISA won.

22:46 – Aaron Kwok (last year’s Best Actor winner) now on stage to present Best Director.

Kwok: “Last year, the average age of Best Director nominees was 51…there was a bit of change this year. The average age this year is 41. If you take out the two older directors, the younger directors has an average age of 34. But remember, this year’s Oscar winner is 32, so you guys are a bit late already. ”

22:41 – We’re going into the four major awards now, which means expect lots more commercial breaks. I guess we’ll be here til 23:30.

22:38 – And the award for Best Film from the Mainland and Taiwan goes to…..GODSPEED (Taiwan). That was a surprise.

Chung Mong-hong isn’t here to accept this award, so Ann Hui accepted it on his behalf. Did Michael Hui already go home?

Zhao: “Actually I won this award a few years ago, but I was too afraid to come because I didn’t think I would win. I guess the director feels the same way.”

22:35 – Vicki Zhao and Ann Hui now on stage to present Best Film from the Mainland and Taiwan.

22:33 – And the award for Best Action Choreography goes to….Tung Wai for OPERATION MEKONG. This is Tung’s 17th nomination and sixth win. Yu Dong on stage to accept the award on Tung’s behalf.

I did the English subtitles for OPERATION MEKONG, so I have to thank Tung’s action design for making my job a little easier.

22:27 – Chan Wai-man, Leung Siu-lung and Ken Lo on stage now to present Best Action Choreography.

The three men talk about how they entered the film industry – Leung came from a family of performers, Chan was a triad member (though he was also a trained martial artist) and Ken Lo was a boxer.

Leung: “This award is so cool that the Oscars doesn’t even have it!”

Chan: “Didn’t Jackie Chan win one of those recently?”

Lo: “Jackie recently won the achievement award.”

Chan: “So the old people award, then!”

22:23 – (and this is where I’m reminded that MERMAID had 8 screenwriters!)

The Best Screenplay award goes to….Loong Man Hong, Thomas Ng, Mak Tin Shu for TRIVISA, its second award of the night.

The team also won Best Original Screenplay at the Golden Horse Awards last November.

22:20 – Elaine Jin and Eric Tsang on stage now to present Best Screenplay.

22:15 – The In Memoriam segment now, featuring Ellen Loo, Hanjin Tan, Andrew Lam, Michael Ning and Charmaine Fong. They’re playing an instrumental version of the theme song from A Better Tomorrow.

Good to see that they managed to fit in Philip Ko Fei and Li Lihua into the segment.

22:12 – We’re into hour three now with seven awards to go. I predict Best Action Choreography and Best Film from the Mainland and Taiwan to be up next.

22:09 – Yuen thanks his previous collaborators – Teddy Robin, Raymond Wong, Sam Hui, Shek Tin, Karl Maka.

Yuen: “Who’s next?”

Hui: “Your wife?”

Yuen: “It’s not her turn yet.”

22:05 – Michael Hui on stage now to present the Professional Achievement award to poster illustrator Yuen Tai-yung. Yuen drew the poster of numerous Hui Brothers films.

Yuen is the subject of the film THE POSTERIST, which has been screening on and off in Hong Kong since last year. Yuen also had a special exhibition of his posters and his portrait drawings last year.

22:03 – Tsang: “It was great to nominate both father and son this year. It would be even better if both father and son win!” (Talking about Derek Tsang for Best Director)

22:00 – Tsang first gives love to his fellow nominees and his director Wong Chun.

“I have to thank Shawn Yue. He was so good that he didn’t talk to me the whole time. Elaine just won, and I won. You’re next.”

21:58 – Lots of enthusiastic cheers for this category.

And the Best Supporting Actor award goes to…..Eric Tsang for MAD WORLD. This is his sixth Best Supporting Actor nomination and his second win in the category. His third acting win overall.

This is the third award for MAD WORLD, making it the leading film for the night.

21:56 – Jessie Li on stage to present Best Supporting Actor. Could this be Philip Keung’s night?

21:54 – Kuk and Lam remain on stage to present Best Sound Design.

And the Best Sound Design award goes to……Kinson Tsang and George Lee for COLD WAR 2, the film’s first award of the night. Both winners are not present.

21:51 – Korea’s Dexter Studio has two nominations, and this is one of the wins.

21:49 – And the Best Visual Effects award goes to……Luke Sungjin Jung, Sang Hun Kim, Chan Soo Kim, Chul Min Kim for MONKEY KING 2, the film’s second award of the night.

21:45 – Vincent Kuk and Lam Chi-chung on stage to present Best Visual Effects.

The two pretend to introduce Tony Leung Chiu-wai and Stephen Chow. Of course, they get booed when they just show up on a green screen with Lam and Kuk’s voices.

21:38 – Third ad break. WEEDS ON FIRE , MAD WORLD and SEE YOU TOMORROW are now tied for two awards each. SOUL MATE, TRIVISA, MONKEY KING 2 also on the board at one each.

21:36 – The Best Supporting Actress award goes to…..Elaine Jin for MAD WORLD. This was her 10th nomination for Best Supporting Actress and her fourth win in the category. This is also her second consecutive HKFA win (she won last year for PORT OF CALL).

Jin also won the Best Supporting Actress award at the Golden Horse Awards.

Jin played Yue’s mother in MAD WORLD, which explains Yue’s excitement for the result.

This is MAD WORLD’s second win of the night.

Jin thanks writer Florence Chan and director Wong Chun for the gift.

21:32 – Shawn Yue starts naming the Supporting Actress nominees. “Kitty Zhang was my girlfriend….in CURSE OF THE DESERTED.”

21:30 – Nominee Shawn Yue and Miriam Yeung – to be seen this week in LOVE OFF THE CUFF – on stage now to present Best Supporting Actress.

21:27 – And the Best Original Film Score goes to…..Peter Kam and Yusuke Hatano for SOUL MATE, the film’s first award for the night. Kam’s eighth award and Hatano’s first nomination/award.

21:25 – Kwan and Tan remain for Best Original Film Score.

Kwan: “Films are indeed magical. I once spent months on a film and I was magically removed.” She was talking about Wong Kar-wai’s HAPPY TOGETHER.

21:23 – WEEDS ON FIRE and SEE YOU TOMORROW are now tied for two awards each. MAD WORLD, TRIVISA, MONKEY KING 2 at one each.

21:20 – Hanjin Tan and Shirley Kwan remain to present the two music awards.

The Best Original Song goes to….Anthem of Shatin Martins in WEEDS ON FIRE.

The songwriting-lyricist team of Day Tai and Saville Chan also won the Best Original Song award last year for SHE REMEMBERS, HE FORGETS and three years ago for THE WAY WE DANCE.

21:15 – Japanese composer Hatano, who is based in Hong Kong, is nominated in both Best Original Score (MAD WORLD and SOUL MATE) and Best Original Song (HAPPINESS) tonight.

21:11 – Hanjin Tan, Shirley Kwan, Supper Moment, Yusuke Hatano and the Interzone Collective onstage now to perform a medley of this year’s Best Original Song nominees.

Holy crap, how many years has it been since Shirley Kwan performed??!!!!

21:09 – I’d thought that COLD WAR 2 would sweep all the technical awards, but it’s won nothing so far. SOUL MATE has also missed out on five awards already,

21:06 – Second ad break now.

21:02 – Actress Fong Yim-fun, who was in 148 films, is this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award. Fong is also active in the promotion of Cantonese opera.

Jackie Chan on stage to present the award and a video message from Fong. Her daughter now on stage to accept the award.

20:58 – And the Best Costume and Make Up Design award goes to….Yee Chung Man and Dora Ng for THE MONKEY KING 2. This is Yee’s 7th win and Ng’s 5th win.

20:56 – Susan Shaw and Dada Chan on stage to present Best Costume & Make Up Design.

Chan: “There’s really not much money for Costume these days. They give me really skimpy clothes!”

Shaw: “Back in my day, they didn’t give me any clothes!”

20:55 – And the Best Art Direction award goes to….Alfred Yau for SEE YOU TOMORROW.

Yau says that he did not expect to him, which is possibly why he kept his speech very short.

20:51 – Richie Ren and Gordon Lam on stage now to present Best Art Direction.

The two go into what art direction entails.

20:50 – We’re back. Tonight’s Best Dressed Award goes to Shawn Yue and Elaine Jin – decided by Simon Yam and his wife.

20:44 – And we’re on our first commercial break. Time for sushi.

20:42 – For those keeping count, it’s one award each for MAD WORLD, WEEDS ON FIRE, TRIVISA and SEE YOU TOMORROW.

20:40 – And the Best Editing award goes to….Allen Leung and David Richardson for the editing marvel that is TRIVISA. This is the first award for both.

Richardson isn’t here to accept his award. Yau Nai-hoi on stage on his behalf.

20:38 – Ning: “I don’t see Tony Leung Ka-fai and Francis Ng tonight.”
Lam: “They’re in the bathroom. But their bathroom is in mainland China.”

20:36 – Ning and Lam remain for the Best Editing Award. Lam’s fake moustache keeps coming off, so Ning can’t keep a straight face.

Ronald Cheng just rushed to the stage and ripped off Lam’s moustache. Got the biggest applause of the night.

20:35 – Cao Yu wasn’t here for the awards. Pau reveals that he shot for six months and Cao Yu shot the other four months.

Pau complains that Wong Kar Wai moved his camera four, five times on one shot, but he accepts being part of WKW’s craft.

20:33 -“Jason Kwan, stand up. Go home and wait for the results.” – Andrew Lam.

And the Best Cinematography award goes to….SEE YOU TOMORROW. This is Peter Pau’s fifth Hong Kong Film Awards.

20:31: The two are here to present the Best Cinematography award.

Sorry, I can’t even translate any of this stuff. It’s all Cantonese wordplay about Michael Ning’s last name.

20:29 – Andrew Lam, who was one half of last year’s funniest bits, is on stage now with Michael Ning. He first plugs his own concert.

20:27: MAD WORLD is one of the two films from Hong Kong Film Fund’s First Film Initiative. WEEDS ON FIRE is the other film.

20:26 – And the Best New Director award goes to……Wong Chun for MAD WORLD. Does this improve his chances for Best Director?

20:23 – All the directors who made their debut in the last year file out to the stage for the Best New Director award (although the three TRIVISA directors are not eligible this year). This highlights the achievements of new directors from the past year.

They’re getting the two toughest competitions out of the way first.

20:22 – This is the first award out of eight nominations for WEEDS ON FIRE. But it also lost out on one award already.

Trivia: Wu Tsz Tung is actually a real baseball player.

Wu thanks his coach and fellow players. He asks for their forgiveness for being away from the field for so long, but he promises to return to the field soon.

20:19 – Why is Jelly Lin’s awards clip dubbed?

Lots of cheers for Wu Tsz Tung and Hedwig Tam (from WEEDS ON FIRE)

Sammo jokes that Shek Tin and Karl Maka are not the winners.

And the Best New Actor goes to….Wu Tsz Tung for WEEDS ON FIRE.

20:17 – Sammo Hung now onstage to present the first award. He’s presenting Best New Performer. To be eligible, the actor must be in a prominent role in his/her first film.

This year’s competition is pretty intense – Two actors from WEEDS ON FIRE, Jelly Lin from MERMAID, Jennifer Yu from SISTERHOOD.

20:15 – The awkward shot of seeing that all the front-row guests have huge gift bags that they have to keep on the floor.

20:14 – If anyone is gonna pull off an opening musical number for the Hong Kong Film Awards, it’s Ronald Cheng. Good work.

20:13 – this setup is particularly impressive when I realize that they have to tear down everything for the opening of the Hong Kong Film Festival in two nights.

20:11 – This year’s creative director is Infernal Affairs co-writer Felix Chong, who headed up a team of young screenwriters for tonight’s show.

20:10: Cheng now dresses up as characters from different films for this musical sequence. First is Leon Lai from Comrade, Almost a Love Story, followed by Andy Lau in A Moment of Romance. Then it’s Mr Vampire and Kung Fu Hustle (If you ever wanted to see Ronald Cheng dressed up as the landlady, this is your chance). There are too many to name here.

20:08 – The show starts with host Ronald Cheng talking about going to the movies.

“I lost my job, but the movies gave me a new chance.” (a reference to his drunk-flying incident that effectively ended his music career)

Cheng breaks into a song about magic (This year’s theme is “Magical Moments”)

20:07 – Here we go. The 36th Hong Kong Film Awards starts now, live from the Hong Kong Cultural Center.

20:02 – It’s the Hong Kong Film Awards, so of course it’s starting late. We’re still on FilMart.

19:59 – Star Movies Chinese showing a montage of this year’s FilMart which includes the alien cat from MEOW talking. Fitting, since life will never be the same after that movie.

19:56 – Four minutes to go. 19 awards (plus a lifetime achievement award) will be given out tonight.

19:45 – I give up. Switch to Star Chinese Movies to watch the finale of SPL 2 before the show starts.

19:43 – Back from a quick sushi run. TVB has cut back to the studio for a banal, gossipy exchange.

19:28 – And Leah Doh reveals that she speaks a bit of Cantonese!

19:26 – Derek Tsang: “I’d just wrapped a film, so I thought I wouldn’t have time to be nervous, but I’m really nervous tonight.”

19:22 – The SOULMATE team on the red carpet now, led by Derek Tsang and his girlfriend Venus Wong. Zhou Dongyu is with Peter Chan (producer), and Leah Dou (theme song) is with Sandra Ng.

Best Actress nominee Ma Sichun is not here tonight. Will the two leads share a Best Actress award again tonight?

19:21 – TVB is blocking out the red carpet hosts by having its own hosts talk about what’s happening on the red carpet. This is incredibly annoying, but it’s the only channel showing the red carpet ceremony (the live stream is blocked in Hong Kong)

19:16 – Of course, TVB can’t wait to screw it up already, cutting off an interview with Nansun Shi, Raymond Wong, Teddy Robin and Karl Maka to cut to commercial.

19:15 – We’re starting a little early as we watch the red carpet ceremony on TVB. However, we’ll be watching the actual ceremony on Star Movies Chinese because TVB has a long history of screwing up the awards to cut to commercial.