[2010.01.21] TONY LEUNG KA FAI SERVES AS JURY CHAIR

The 4th Annual Asia Film Award yesterday held a press conference to announce this year's nominations. BODYGUARDS AND ASSASSINS (SUP YUET WAI SING) received six nominations, the most nominated film. Tony Leung Ka Fai will be the jury chair this year. Leung Ka Fai thought that the ATV broadcast of the Hong Kong Film Award this year will be a good thing.

Leung Ka Fai, Peter Lam Kin Ngok, Yonfan and Oceana Zhu Xuan yesterday attended the Asia Film Award press conference. Yonfon's PRINCE OF TEAR received a Best Director nod. Other nominees included BODYGUARDS AND ASSASSINS' Nicholas Tse Ting Fung for Best Supporting Actor, Wang Xueqi for Best Actor, Chris Li Yuchun and Oceana Zhu Xuan for Best New Actor, and AT THE END OF DAYBREAK (SUM MOR)'s Kara Hui (Wai Ying Hung) for Best Supporting Actress.

Leung Ka Fai joked that this year because he had to be the chair he was not nominated. He said because he was in BODYGUARDS AND ASSASSINS, he could not vote in any category that it was nominated in. This time as the chair he had to watch over 30 films from all over Asia. He has already seen a dozen or so. In addition he reportedly took part in 72 TENANTS OF PROSPERITY (72 GA JO HAT) but his part was removed. He expressed that due to scheduling conflict he could not agree to take part. he would like to able to work on the next one.

As for the ATV broadcast of the Hong Kong Film Award, Leung Ka Fai said, "It's pretty good that everyone gets a chance!" Was it because TVB cut a lot of the show so ATV got the shot? He felt it was unrelated. He also felt that only with competition would improvement come. He hoped actors who were singers would be able to attend the Hong Kong Film Award without contractual restriction.

Both Zhu Xuan and Yonfan were nominated with PRINCE OF TEARS. Zhu Xuan expressed that she was already very happy about the nomination and felt that more people would get a chance to know her. Yonfan joked that he was a "Best Director" new comer and said that his film has faced a lot of criticism and attacks. Many people did not understand them so they complained about them. Thus he was particularly happy about the nomination.