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As Gorilla Monsoon used to say: "history was made" last night as the 20th HKFA Film Awards were presented at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre in the Tsimshatsui district. CROUCHING TIGER HIDDEN DRAGON won a record-tying eight awards while Maggie Cheung Man-Yuk won the Best Actress award for an unprecedented fifth time. The eight awards for CROUCHING TIGER HIDDEN DRAGON ties it with COMRADES, ALMOST A LOVE STORY for most HKFA awards won by a movie. Tony Leung Chiu-Wai won the Best Actor award completing an IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE sweep of the top acting awards. IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE finished the night with a total of five awards. The winners:

Best Film: CROUCHING TIGER HIDDEN DRAGON
Best Director: Ang Lee for CROUCHING TIGER HIDDEN DRAGON
Best Actor: Tong Leung Chiu-Wai for IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE
Best Actress: Maggie Cheung Man-Yuk for IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE
Best Supporting Actor: Francis Ng Jun-Yu for 2000 AD
Best Supporting Actress: Cheng Pei-Pei for CROUCHING TIGER HIDDEN DRAGON
Best New Actor: Qin Hailu for DURIAN DURIAN
Best Screenplay: Fruit Chan Gor for DURIAN DURIAN
Best Cinematography: Peter Pau Tak-Hei for CROUCHING TIGER HIDDEN DRAGON
Best Action Choreography: Yuen Wo-ping for CROUCHING TIGER HIDDEN DRAGON
Best Editing: William Chang Suk-Ping for IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE
Best Art Direction: William Chang Suk-Ping for IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE
Best Costume Design: William Chang Suk-Ping for IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE
Best Sound Effects: Eugene Gearty for CROUCHING TIGER HIDDEN DRAGON
Best Original Film Score: Tan Dun for CROUCHING TIGER HIDDEN DRAGON
Best Original Song: YUET KWONG OI YAN (lit. MOONLIGHT LOVERS) from CROUCHING TIGER HIDDEN DRAGON sung by Coco Lee
Special Awards: Yuen Wo-ping and Pak Suet-Sin

Above images courtesy Oriental Daily News.

Notes and reactions:

- Tony Leung Chiu-Wai's Best Actor win was his third tying him with Chow Yun-Fat. Previously, Leung won Best Actor awards for his work in CHUNGKING EXPRESS and HAPPY TOGETHER. On stage, a non-chalant Tony Leung merely said: "Thanks to Wong Kar-Wai" before leaving the podium.

Speaking to reporters afterwards, Leung was even more non-chalant about his victory. Leung: "I win these things all the time."

- Maggie Cheung Man-Yuk did not attend the award ceremony as she was at a film festival in Argentina with her husband Oliver Assayass. Assayass has a film participating in the event. Speaking to reporters from The Sun by telephone, Cheung said: "I'm very happy that I finally won an award at the same time as Wai-Jai (Tony Leung) for this film. I also want to thank William Chang and Wong Kar-Wai. Wong Kar-Wai has been a big influence in my life from the time I didn't know how to act until now. I hope to work with him again in the future."

- Winning the Academy Award for Best Cinematography last month did not take the lustre off CROUCHING TIGER HIDDEN DRAGON cinematographer Peter Pau Tak-Hei's (left) HKFA award win for Best Cinematography. Pau: "Hong Kong is my home so 'I feel the same way winning a film award in Hong Kong as I did at the Oscars."

- Coco Lee (centre) was somewhat surprised when she won the award for Best Original Song. Lee: "I didn't think I was going to win. I'm really, really happy. I want to thank Chow Yun-Fat and Michelle Yeoh. I will be giving the award to my mother. It'll make a nice Mother's Day present."

- William Chang Suk-Ping was the big individual winner as he walked away with three awards: Best Art Direction, Best Editing, and Best Costume Design. Chang did not attend the ceremony. Instead, actor Chang Chen kept busy by repeatedly going up to the podium to accept the awards on William Chang's behalf. Tim Yip Kam-Tim won the Best Art Direction award for CROUCHING TIGER HIDDEN DRAGON at the Academy Awards. Commenting on losing the HKFA Award to Chang, Yip remarked: "I'm a little disappointed because I thought I had a good chance. But, it's hard to see who was better and I think the awards are fair."

- Mainland actress Qin Hailu was on the verge of tears when she accepted her Best New Actor award. Qin: "I really want to thank Fruit Chan for giving me this opportunity. I never thought I would win an award. I also want to thank my parents in Beijing. They have given me a lot of support."

Related images (courtesy Apple Daily):
http://appledaily.atnext.com/webimg/640pix/20010430/Article_ent/30ee5p505.jpg (Tony Leung)
http://appledaily.atnext.com/webimg/640pix/20010430/Article_ent/30ee5p37.jpg (Francis Ng accepts award from presenters Hsu Chi and Takako Tokiwa.)
http://appledaily.atnext.com/webimg/640pix/20010430/Article_ent/30ee5p39.jpg (Ang Lee)
http://appledaily.atnext.com/webimg/640pix/20010430/Article_ent/30ee5p503.jpg (Cheng Pei-Pei accepts her award.)
http://appledaily.atnext.com/webimg/640pix/20010430/Article_ent/30ee5p27.jpg (Tim Yip Kam-Tim)
http://appledaily.atnext.com/webimg/640pix/20010430/Article_ent/30ee5p40.jpg (Qin Hailu accepts award from presenters Nic Tse and Anita Yuen Wing-Yi.)

Above images courtesy The Sun. Above images have ZOOM links. Click on picture for larger image.

Oriental Daily News, Apple Daily, and The Sun all had fashion pundits commenting on the fashions worn at the awards ceremony. Consensus had Gigi Leung Wing-Kei as the best-dressed celebrity with her Yves St. Laurent outfit (far left). One of the hosts of the ceremony, Carol Cheng Yu-Ling (left) was declared the most elegantly dressed. Taiwanese actress Kelly Kuo (Kwok Jing-Shun; centre) was seen as the most sexily dressed while Coco Lee (right) was the person who wore the best accessories. Her dress, however, left fashion experts from The Sun wanting. Related images (courtesy Apple Daily unless otherwise indicated):

http://appledaily.atnext.com/webimg/640pix/20010430/Article_ent/30ec1p15.jpg (Gigi Leung)
http://appledaily.atnext.com/webimg/640pix/20010430/Article_ent/30ec1p2.jpg (Gigi Leung)
http://appledaily.atnext.com/webimg/640pix/20010430/Article_ent/30ec1p3.jpg (Carol Cheng)
http://appledaily.atnext.com/webimg/640pix/20010430/Article_ent/30ec1p4.jpg (Carol Cheng)
http://appledaily.atnext.com/webimg/640pix/20010430/Article_ent/30ec1p7.jpg (Kelly Kuo)
http://appledaily.atnext.com/webimg/640pix/20010430/Article_ent/30ec1p8.jpg (Kelly Kuo and the trendy lower back tattoo.)
http://www.orientaldaily.com.hk/photo/20010430/ent/0430enew06p2.gif (Kelly Kuo courtesy Oriental Daily News.)

 ZOOM         

Above images courtesy Oriental Daily News (centre, right) and The Sun (left).

In spite of rumours suggesting that international movie stars such as Anthony Hopkins and Arnold Schwarzenegger would be attending the awards, Japanese actress Takako Tokiwa (left) ended up being the only foreign movie star in attendance. She and Hsu Chi presented the award for Best Supporting Actor and were so giddy it was like they won awards themselves (centre).

The high point of the night came courtesy of Chow Yun-Fat as he and Anita Mui Yim-Fong presented the award for Best Actress (right). Upon annoucing the winner, Chow startled Best Actress nominee Sammi Cheng Sau-Man when he said: "Cheng Sau-Man! Cheng Sau-Man told me to say her name no matter what. The winner of the award is Maggie Cheung Man-Yuk."

By the time Chow had finished explaining why he yelled out Sammi Cheng's name, Cheng had already begun to make her way to the podium. When she heard Chow's explanation, an embarrassed Cheng quickly sat down.

During his presentation at the awards, director Wong Jing seemed to take a poke at Wong Kar-Wai: "Although I'm a director concerned with making commercial films. I still have achievements that I am proud of. No matter if I have a budget of HK$2 million or HK$50 million, my films are always made to the best of my ability and they always come in on budget. I'm confident that one day I will also be recognized!"

Rumours of a love affair between Zhang Ziyi and Jackie Chan were also a source of much mirth during the ceremony. While presenting the Best New Actor award with Nic Tse, Anita Yuen Wing-Yi said: "Here's some advice for you newcomers. Don't share your drink with anyone and don't feed anyone grapes."

Pictures from the Hong Kong set of RUSH HOUR II earlier this month showed Zhang Ziyi and Jackie Chan sharing some champagne during an on set party celebrating Chan's birthday. Related images (courtesy Apple Daily unless otherwise indicated):

http://appledaily.atnext.com/webimg/640pix/20010430/Article_ent/30ee5p41.jpg (Wong Jing)
http://appledaily.atnext.com/webimg/640pix/20010430/Article_ent/30ee5p9.jpg (Anita Yuen)
http://appledaily.atnext.com/webimg/640pix/20010430/Article_ent/30ee5p502.jpg (Chow Yun-Fat and Anita Mui.)
http://appledaily.atnext.com/webimg/640pix/20010430/Article_ent/30ec1p16.jpg (Hsu Chi)
http://appledaily.atnext.com/webimg/640pix/20010430/Article_ent/30ec1p18.jpg (Hsu Chi and her agent Manfred Wong.)
http://appledaily.atnext.com/webimg/640pix/20010430/Article_ent/30ec1p12.jpg (Nic Tse)
http://www.orientaldaily.com.hk/photo/20010430/ent/0430enew07b2.jpg (Zhang Ziyi courtesy Oriental Daily News.)

Above images courtesy Oriental Daily News.

Rumours that Tony Leung Chiu-Wai (left) and Carina Lau Ka-Ling have broken up intensified last night as Lau did not accompany Leung to the awards. Instead, Leung spent the night in the company of Chang Chen and Wong Kar-Wai.

Actress Joey Wong Tso-Yi made her first appearance at the awards in a long time as she presented the Best Art Direction and Best Costume Design awards. Related image (courtesy Apple Daily):

http://appledaily.atnext.com/webimg/640pix/20010430/Article_ent/30ee5p10.jpg (Joey Wong)

Miscellaneous images (courtesy Apple Daily):
http://appledaily.atnext.com/webimg/640pix/20010430/Article_ent/30ee5p11.jpg (Michelle Yeoh)
http://appledaily.atnext.com/webimg/640pix/20010430/Article_ent/30ec1p17.jpg (Nicola Cheung Sun-Yu)
http://appledaily.atnext.com/webimg/640pix/20010430/Article_ent/30ec1p199.jpg (San Miguel campaign girl Fu Tin-Ming)
http://appledaily.atnext.com/webimg/640pix/20010430/Article_ent/30ec1p10.jpg (Stephanie Che Yuen-Yuen)

MISCELLANEOUS:

- Apple Daily reporters met up with Chang Chen and Ang Lee as they arrived for the awards yesterday. Lee remarked that the HKFA Film Awards should be the end of the road for awards for CROUCHING TIGER HIDDEN DRAGON. He further commented that it was a good thing too because travelling around the world attending various award ceremonies and film festivals have left him exhausted. (SANNEY: He's got a point. I'm exhausted from having to type in CROUCHING TIGER HIDDEN DRAGON all the time.) Related images (courtesy Apple Daily):

http://appledaily.atnext.com/webimg/640pix/20010430/Article_ent/30ec2p6.jpg (Ang Lee)
http://appledaily.atnext.com/webimg/640pix/20010430/Article_ent/30ec2p10.jpg (Chang Chen)

- Chow Yun-Fat spent the hours before the awards attending the ceremony rehearsal with his assistant. Meanwhile, fellow Best Actor hopeful Tony Leung Chiu-Wai spent the afternoon at the beach. Related images (courtesy Apple Daily):

http://appledaily.atnext.com/webimg/640pix/20010430/Article_ent/30ec7p3.jpg (Tony Leung)
http://appledaily.atnext.com/webimg/640pix/20010430/Article_ent/30ec7p1.jpg (Chow Yun-Fat drives his assistant to the rehearsal.)
http://appledaily.atnext.com/webimg/640pix/20010430/Article_ent/30ec7p2.jpg (Chow and his Toyota Prado SUV at the Cultural Centre parking lot.)

- Cheng Pei-Pei spent the morning at an event promoting Buddhism then attended the ceremony rehearsal where she met up with her contemporary Cheng Li. Afterwards, she took the MTR home to get ready for the awards. Related images (courtesy Apple Daily):

http://appledaily.atnext.com/webimg/640pix/20010430/Article_ent/30ec2p15.jpg (Cheng at the Buddhist event.)
http://appledaily.atnext.com/webimg/640pix/20010430/Article_ent/30ec2p12.jpg (Cheng with Cheng Li at the rehearsal.)
http://appledaily.atnext.com/webimg/640pix/20010430/Article_ent/30ec2p14.jpg (Cheng at the MTR station.)

- Some Apple Daily reporters spent the hours before the ceremony with Coco Lee in Lee's hotel room as she got ready for the awards. Lee was suffering from an infection in her right ear. She revealed to reporters that she was heading to the hospital immediately after the ceremony to receive treatment. Lee's hair was done by Ivan from Headquarters. Her dress was by Herve Leger and her shoes were a pair of Stuart Weizmans. To top if off, she wore HK$400,000 worth of diamonds on loan from Chanel. Related images (courtesy Apple Daily):

http://appledaily.atnext.com/webimg/640pix/20010430/Article_ent/30ec2p1.jpg (Coco Lee)
http://appledaily.atnext.com/webimg/640pix/20010430/Article_ent/30ec2p2.jpg (Coco Lee)
http://appledaily.atnext.com/webimg/640pix/20010430/Article_ent/30ec2p3.jpg (Lee's HK$400,000 bracelet)
http://appledaily.atnext.com/webimg/640pix/20010430/Article_ent/30ec2p4.jpg (Lee checks out the Herve Leger dress.)

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