Action-packed police thriller "Raging Fire" won best film and three other awards at the Hong Kong Film Awards Sunday, beating out a crowd favorite film about late Cantopop singer Anita Mui.
The 40th Hong Kong Film Awards took place Sunday, after it was postponed thrice from April following the city's biggest COVID-19 outbreak. It was also the first time that the awards were held in-person since 2019.
"Raging Fire" sees action star Donnie Yen play an incorruptible policeman who ends up going head-to-head with a former mentee played by Nicholas Tse, who wants revenge after Yen's character put him in prison.
The movie is a swansong by director Benny Chan, who died of cancer in August 2020 while the movie was still in post-production.
Chan posthumously won the Best Director Award on Sunday. "Raging Fire" also won for Best Editing as well as Best Action Choreography.
The film that took home the most awards for the night was "Anita," a biographical drama film about Mui.
"Anita," which was the highest-grossing Hong Kong film in 2021, bagged a total of five awards for Best Costume and Design, Best Visual Effects as well as Best Sound Design.
The film topped the box office in Hong Kong upon release, eventually grossing $18.5 million in total box office sales. It topped the Hong Kong box office upon debut, grossing some 61 million Hong Kong dollars ($7.8 million) in about seven weeks.
"Anita" also earned more than 10 million yuan ($1.48 million) on its opening day at the Chinese box office.
Louise Wong, who played Mui in the film, won Best New Performer.
"Honestly, it wasn't a day (or) overnight that I could play the role Anita," said Wong. "I'm grateful for the team's support and encouragement."
"They helped me gradually understand Anita and the role," she said. "I'm very grateful that I could experience her life."
Malaysian actor Fish Liew, who played Mui's sister Ann Mui, won Best Supporting Actress.
Another big winner at Sunday's awards was crime thriller film "Limbo" which is based on the novel Wisdom Tooth by Chinese author Lei Mi. The film follows two policemen in their efforts to hunt down a serial killer.
The film won Best Screenplay, Best Art Direction and Best Cinematography.
Cya Liu, who played a drug addict who becomes a target for the serial killer, won Best Actress for her portrayal of the role.
"I'm grateful for the chance to perform in this movie and for director Soi Cheang's trust and recognition," said Liu.
"With his encouragement, I could completely engage in playing the role and act. Today is the first time in my life … that I feel the recognition as an actress."
Meanwhile, 85-year-old Patrick Tse took home the award for best actor for his performance in the film "Time," which centers on the city's neglected elderly population. He was given a standing ovation while receiving his award.
Comedian and actor Michael Hui was also presented a Lifetime Achievement Award for his contributions to the comedy genre in Hong Kong's film industry.
California governor signs law to protect children from social media addiction
California will make it illegal for social media platforms to knowingly provide addictive feeds to children without parental consent beginning in 2027 under a new law Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Friday.
California follows New York state, which passed a law earlier this year allowing parents to block their kids from getting social media posts suggested by a platform's algorithm. Utah has passed laws in recent years aimed at limiting children's access to social media, but they have faced challenges in court.
The California law will take effect in a state home to some of the largest technology companies in the world. Similar proposals have failed to pass in recent years, but Newsom signed a first-in-the-nation law in 2022 barring online platforms from using users' personal information in ways that could harm children. It is part of a growing push in states across the country to try to address the impacts of social media on the well-being of children.
"Every parent knows the harm social media addiction can inflict on their children — isolation from human contact, stress and anxiety, and endless hours wasted late into the night," Newsom said in a statement. "With this bill, California is helping protect children and teenagers from purposely designed features that feed these destructive habits."
The law bans platforms from sending notifications without permission from parents to minors between 12 a.m. and 6 a.m., and between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. on weekdays from September through May, when children are typically in school. The legislation also makes platforms set children's accounts to private by default.
Opponents of the legislation say it could inadvertently prevent adults from accessing content if they cannot verify their... Read More