The 6th Asian Film Awards Hong Kong-based Director Ann HUI On-wah to Receive Lifetime Achievement Award

Hong Kong, 12 January 2012 – Film director Ann HUI On-wah, a leading light of the Hong Kong New Wave of the 1970s and 1980s, and an artist whose career has spanned decades of success, will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award at the upcoming 6^th Asian Film Awards (AFA), making her the first female recipient of the award. In the early part of her career, HUI directed films that were instrumental in igniting the distinct voice of Hong Kong film, giving early breakthrough roles to stars such as CHOW Yun-fat and Andy LAU, and has continued to create works that have combined mainstream success with intellectual depth to this day.

The Asian Film Awards (AFA) are dedicated to honouring filmmakers with outstanding achievements in the field of Asian cinema. The 6^th Asian Film Awards Presentation Ceremony will take place on 19 March 2012 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. In addition to 14 individual award categories, the 6^th Asian Film Awards will also recognise the outstanding efforts and careers of professionals in the Asian film industry with three special awards: the Lifetime Achievement Award, the Edward Yang New Talent Award and the Award for 2011’s Top-Grossing Asian Film.

Previous recipients of the Lifetime Achievement Award include the Japanese director YAMADA Yoji, famous for his “Samurai Trilogy”, the universally acclaimed Indian actor Amitabh BACHCHAN, and the influential Hong Kong producer and founder of the Golden Harvest studio, Raymond CHOW Man-wai.

HUI is particularly noted for several films that deal with issues of alienation and the immigrant experience. One of her most important works is Song of the Exile (1990), a semi-autobiographical drama of disorientation and loss of identity amid the tides of history. Song of the Exile was screened at the 1990 Cannes Film Festival in the Un Certain Regard selection. Her recent films The Way We Are (2008) and Night and Fog (2009) – the two-part ‘Tin Shui Wai series’ – were both nominated for numerous awards, examining themes of alienation and dissatisfaction among local families and new immigrants to Hong Kong. The Way We Are went on to win four prizes at the 28^th Hong Kong Film Awards, and three at the 15^th Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards.

HUI’s films inhabit a variety of genres, ranging from her ambitious 1987 two-part adaption of the wuxia novel The Book and the Sword, which became the first Hong Kong feature production to be made entirely on the Chinese mainland and with an all-mainland cast, to the controversial, politically-charged thriller Boat People (1982) which gave Andy LAU his breakout big-screen role, the horror comedies The Spooky Bunch (1980) and Visible Secret (2001), and the politically and socially aware dramas Ordinary Heroes (1999). Over the course of her career, Ann HUI has consistently operated at the highest levels of the Hong Kong film industry, working with major names including actresses Michelle YEOH and Anita MUI, and legendary director King HU.

She worked again with Andy LAU in her latest film A Simple Life (2011) which also brought back actress Deannie IP after a long absence from the screen. IP won the Best Actress award at the Venice Film Festival for her performance.

“The influence of Ann HUI on Hong Kong film is hard to overstate,” said Mr. Wilfred WONG SBS JP, Chairman of the Hong Kong International Film Festival Society (HKIFFS), the organising body of the AFA. “She was one of the foremost members of the Hong Kong New Wave in the late 1970s, exploring established genres in new ways, and creating a new, vernacular cinema that helped to express the emerging Hong Kong identity. And rather than rest on her laurels, she has continued to be prolific – I believe she has made a film almost every year since 1979 – without ever compromising quality. She has proven to be a master of every kind of film to which she has turned her hand. Thrilling, contemplative, funny, scary, romantic, challenging – Ann HUI’s films are all these things and more. She represents the standard to which Hong Kong’s filmmakers aspire. She has also been a strong supporter of Hong Kong’s film culture and film development. She was on the executive committee of the Hong Kong Film Directors’ Guild from 1993 to 2004, and then its President until 2006. She served as the Vice Chairman of the HKIFFS when it was first established and we thank her for all her efforts in helping nurture the Society’s growth and activities.”

Hong Kong-based film director Ann HUI On-wah will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award at the upcoming 6^th Asian Film Awards (AFA).

About the Asian Film Awards

The AFA Presentation Ceremony takes place as part of the Entertainment Expo Hong Kong. Since 2007, the Asian Film Awards (AFA) has sought to highlight the best in Asian cinema to the world, and to promote Asian film culture both regionally and internationally. Eminent filmmakers, distinguished guests and acclaimed talents from around the world are invited to bestow awards upon the winner(s) of each category, making the Ceremony a dazzling extravaganza as well as an influential cultural event that helps position Hong Kong as the hub of Asian cinema. Each year, the AFA makes presentations in a range of categories such as Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, in recognition of artistic achievements in the cinemas and film industries of the Asian region.

For more information about the Asian Film Awards and film submission for nomination, please visit: www.asianfilmawards.asia.

About Hong Kong International Film Festival Society Limited

Uniting the World through Film

The Hong Kong International Film Festival Society (HKIFFS) is a charitable, non-profit, non-government organization dedicated to the discovery and promotion of creativity in the art and culture of film.

Through its year-round programmes, the mission of the Society is to strengthen global appreciation of Chinese film culture and to promote inspiring films from around the world, enriching the cultural life of Hong Kong.

Committed to the development of a vibrant film culture in Hong Kong and Asia, the Society organizes three annual flagship events in March and April: The Hong Kong International Film Festival (HKIFF), the Hong Kong-Asia Film Financing Forum (HAF) and the Asian Film Awards (AFA).

Passionately believing in the power of films to unite cultures and generations, the HKIFFS is devoted to giving thousands of film lovers around the region direct access to the world’s most inspired films all year round.

Website: www.hkiff.org.hk

For further information, media only:

Waggener Edstrom Worldwide

April TSUI

Tel: +852-6336-8090

E-mail: atsui@waggeneredstrom.com

Miranda KWOK

Tel: +952-9612-1607

E-mail: mkwok@waggeneredstrom.com

The Hong Kong International Film Festival Society

Catherine LIU

Tel: +852-2102-7391 / +852-9621-7430