Four movies have been excluded from the Hong Kong Film Awards’ (HKFA) contenders list this year with no explanation, sparking censorship concerns.
Three Hong Kong movies – Valley of the Shadow of Death, Finch & Midland, and Vital Signs – do not appear on the 44th HKFA’s contenders list, meaning they have been disqualified from nomination, local media outlets reported on Tuesday.
Mother Bhumi, a film directed by Malaysian filmmaker Chong Keat Aun and starring Chinese actor Fan Bingbing, is also excluded from the list.
The four films, which all had their first commercial release in Hong Kong in 2025, should be eligible, according to the HKFA’s rules.
Established in 1982, the HKFA is Hong Kong’s top annual film ceremony.
In January, eligible voters and a professional jury will select nominations for all awards according to the HKFA’s contenders list. The ceremony is usually held in April.
An eligible HKFA voter, Alex (not their real name), told HKFP on Thursday that they noticed that some films had “disappeared” after receiving a ballot booklet listing the film contenders on Friday.
Alex said they tried to contact the HKFA to inquire, but received no response.
“The Hong Kong Film Awards admit films based on eligibility criteria, not submissions. And according to the rules, all four of those films should be eligible to contend for the awards,” Alex said in Cantonese.
The HKFA refused to comment when contacted by HKFP on Thursday.
The voting deadline is January 23, Alex said, adding that they had yet to decide whether to cast a ballot.
“As a voter, I felt so puzzled. I’ve worked in the industry for over 10 years and never experienced such a thing,” Alex said.
“Those films were produced and distributed by different companies. I had a feeling that [the disqualifications] were related to particular individuals in the cast or crew of those films.”
Valley of the Shadow of Death – one of the disqualified films – revolves around a pastor whose church gives shelter to a young man who caused the death of his beloved daughter. The film stars Hong Kong veteran actor Anthony Wong, who is considered to sympathise with the pro-democracy camp. Last year, he was unable to stage his drama and publicly screen his film.
Finch & Midland also stars Wong. Directed by Canadian-Hongkonger filmmaker Timothy Yeung, it tells the story of Hong Kong migrants in Canada in the 1990s.
Vital Signs stars veteran actor Louis Koo; Angela Yuen; and Neo Yau, who co-founded a political satire group that mocked the government. The Hong Kong Film Development Council, a statutory body that promotes local films, is one of its production companies.
Mother Bhumi, set in a village on the Malaysian-Thai border in 1998, follows a single mother, played by Chinese actor Fan, who resists land seizures.
Fan was one of China’s highest-paid actresses before she was targeted in a tax evasion crackdown in 2018. While she has been largely absent from film projects in mainland China, her performance in Mother Bhumi won her the best actress award at Taiwan’s Golden Horse Awards in November last year.
