Hong Kong picks action movie set in Kowloon Walled City for Oscars race
Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In put forward as city’s entry for Academy Awards’ best international feature film
Hong Kong will submit a martial arts blockbuster set in the underworld of the infamous Kowloon Walled City for next year’s Oscars race after it received a standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival in May.
The Hong Kong Motion Picture Industry Association announced on Friday that Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In had been chosen to represent the city in the coming Academy Awards.
“Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In took the most votes to represent Hong Kong to compete for the best international feature film at the 97th Academy Awards,” the association said.
The contenders will be announced on January 17 next year.
The film is set in the 1980s, shortly before the Walled City was demolished, and was directed by Soi Cheang Pou-soi, with Louis Koo Tin-lok and Raymond Lam Fung starring.
It follows a young undocumented immigrant as he stumbles into the overpopulated Chinese enclave, making both friends and enemies while fighting a series of battles to defend his new home from feuding crime lords.
Box office figures in July showed the film had grossed more than HK$105 million (US$13 million) since its premiere on May 1.
