Hong Kong Film Awards (belatedly)

Bodyguards and Assassins rule the night!

Catching up on my blogging, some random thoughts about the Hong Kong Film Awards. This year was a big win for Teddy Chen, whose epic 'Bodyguards and Assassins' swept all before it.

I remember working with Teddy on the English version of the script for this film, back when it was called 'Dark October'. This was eight years or so ago. Teddy was all set to shoot at thay time, ironically, just opposite our studio in Nanhai, where we shot 'Blood Bond' last year. The Hong Kong sets built at the CCTV studios there stand to this day. The old Hong Kong set in Shanghai, constructed when the project finally came together, was far more impressive.

That first attempt fell apart when its producer committed suicide just before shooting began. I would see Teddy over the intervening years, and ask about the project. It seemed doomed never to see the light of day, and then, thanks to producer Peter Chan, it did!

The film gave great roles to several old friends of mine, including Donnie Yen and Nicholas Tse. I worked with Nic on his first major Hong Kong actioner, Gen-X Cops. Its been great to see him mature as an actor and as a man; he really deserved his Best Supporting Actor prize.

I was also happy, and for slightly selfish reasons!, to see another old mate, Simon Yam, win Best Actor for his role in Night and Fog. He was in Echoes of the Rainbow and Bodyguards and Assassins among the other nominated films. In fact, its hard to think of a 2009 Chinese film that Simon wasn't it! Luckily for me, this included 'The Blood Bond'. Its always great to have a multi award-winning actor as your movie's bad guy!

The awards after party was held at the new 1881 Heritage hotel, built on the site of the old Marine Police Headquarters. Last time I was in that building, Maggie Q was shooting scenes for 'Naked Weapon'... I ran into Dennis To Yu-hang, who appeared in 'Ip Man 1 & 1' (in different roles) and plays Ip Man himself in 'The Legend Is Born'. I'm good friends with Dennis' teacher, Sifu Sin Kwok-lam, and I'll be interested to see how they interpret the Southern Chinese fighting arts in this new film (directed by Herman Yau).

'Ip Man: The Legend is Born' was shot in Fatshan, near our studio in Nanhai, and my Blood Bond action director, Fan Siu-wong, who acts in this new Ip Man movie, had to go back and forth between locations.

Sin Sifu is a student of the great Lau Kar-leung, the kung fu film-making legend responsible for some of the great classics of the Shaw Bros era. His Lifetime Achievement Award was timely and deserved. As a Hung Kuen devotee, my utmost respects to this great master.