
Hong Kong blockbuster The Last Dance wins 2 awards at Udine Far East Film Festival
Hong Kong blockbuster The Last Dance has won two awards in Italy's popular Udine Far East Film Festival, the latest in a string of other recent accolades.
Advertisement
It is the only Hong Kong film to win an award at this year's festival, the organiser announced on Saturday.
The drama earned nearly HK$170 million (US$21.9 million) at the box office as of May 2, the highest-grossing Hong Kong film of all time.
The festival, which focuses on screening films from around Asia, awarded the 'Black Dragon Audience Award' and the 'Audience Award' to the extended version of film.
The extended version of The Last Dance, which included 12 extra minutes of previously unseen footage, was released on April 4, the date of the Ching Ming Festival.
Advertisement
The film tells the story of a debt-ridden wedding planner, played by Dayo Wong Tze-wah, who tries his hand at being a funeral agent out of desperation, and a Taoist priest, played by Michael Hui Koon-man, who struggles to stay on good terms with his children, played by Chu Pak-hong and Michelle Wai Sze-nga.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


HKFP
a day ago
- HKFP
Golden Harvest to shutter MegaBox branch – 6th cinema to close in Hong Kong this year
Hong Kong cinema chain Golden Harvest has announced that it will close its branch in the Kowloon Bay shopping mall MegaBox on Monday due to 'the end of the tenancy.' It will be the sixth cinema to shut down in the city this year. In a post shared on Facebook and Instagram on Wednesday, Golden Harvest said GH MegaBox would offer a series of special discounts to audiences and host a 'Classic Mystery Movie Session' on Sunday to mark its final day of operation. IMAX tickets will be sold for HK$40, while selected combos at the concession stands will be priced at HK$40 on Sunday. Anyone who presents a GH MegaBox movie ticket at the snack counters of other Golden Harvest cinemas may enjoy a HK$10 discount on purchases of HK$65 or more between 9 and 30 June. The MegaBox branch, with seven theatres and 852 seats, will be the third Golden Harvest cinema to close this year. Grand Ocean Cinema on Canton Road closed on Monday after operating for more than five decades. Golden Harvest said in its announcement last month that the cinema was a 'landmark' in Tsim Sha Tsui, 'witnessing the passage of time through different eras of film.' In April, the Whampoa branch of Golden Harvest closed after nearly 16 years of operation in the residential area. Golden Harvest said both closures were due to the end of the cinemas' tenancies. Last year, nine local cinemas closed as overall box office receipts in Hong Kong marked the weakest performance since 2011, according to figures compiled by Hong Kong Box Office Limited. Total box office revenue amounted to HK$1.3 billion in 2024 – down 6.2 per cent from 2023, it also said in January. As of Thursday, the Hong Kong Theatres Association's website showed that it had 50 members: 12 on Hong Kong Island, 18 in Kowloon, and 20 in the New Territories, with GH MegaBox still listed as a member.


RTHK
30-05-2025
- RTHK
Smokey Robinson counter-sues against rape allegations
Smokey Robinson counter-sues against rape allegations Smokey Robinson and his wife Frances at a pre-Grammy gala in Beverly Hills, California, in 2023. File photo: AFP American singer Smokey Robinson has filed a defamation lawsuit against four former housekeepers who accused him of rape and prompted a police investigation. Robinson and his wife, Frances Robinson, filed the counterclaim on Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court against the women and their lawyers, whose allegations, they say, were 'fabricated in an extortionate scheme'. The filing is a fast and forceful legal and public pushback from the 85-year-old Motown music luminary in response to the women's May 6 lawsuit and a May 15 announcement from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department that its special victims bureau is 'actively investigating criminal allegations' against Robinson. The Robinsons also filed a motion to strike the women's lawsuit. The women are seeking at least US$50 million, alleging Smokey Robinson repeatedly raped and sexually assaulted them in his home when they worked for him between 2007 and 2024. They said Frances Robinson, a co-defendant, enabled him and created an abusive workplace. The counterclaim opens with friendly text messages from the women to contradict their claims against Robinson, whose songs, including 'Tears of a Clown' and 'The Tracks of My Tears," established him among the biggest hitmakers of the 1960s. The filing says the women 'stayed with the Robinsons year after year,' vacationed with them, celebrated holidays with them, exchanged gifts with them, asked for tickets to his concerts, and sought and received help from them, including money for dental surgery, financial support for a disabled family member and 'even a car'. The filing - which includes photos from the vacations and gatherings as exhibits – says that despite the couple's generosity, the women 'secretly harboured resentment for the Robinsons and sought to enrich themselves through the Robinsons' wealth'. John Harris and Herbert Hayden, attorneys for the former housekeepers, said the defamation lawsuit 'is nothing more than an attempt to silence and intimidate the survivors of Mr Robinson's sexual battery and assault. It is a baseless and vindictive legal manoeuvre designed to re-victimise, shift blame and discourage others from coming forward'. The lawyers said they intend to get the Robinsons' lawsuit thrown out by invoking California's laws against using the courts to silence and intimidate people who sue. The four women, whose names are withheld in their lawsuit, each allege that Robinson would wait until they were alone with him in his Los Angeles house and then sexually assault and rape them. One woman said she was assaulted at least 20 times while working for Robinson from 2012 until 2024. Another said she worked for him from 2014 until 2020 and was assaulted at least 23 times. (AP)


HKFP
27-05-2025
- HKFP
Hong Kong's first giant panda twins named Jia Jia and De De, Ocean Park announces
Hong Kong's first-ever giant panda twins have received their official names, Ocean Park has announced, following a naming competition. The female cub is named Jia Jia while her brother is called De De, after a competition that, according to the park, drew more than 35,700 submissions from the public. The competition's judging panel considered the names to be 'highly meaningful,' Rosanna Law, the secretary for culture, sports and tourism, said on Tuesday. Jia Jia conveys the Chinese phrase of encouragement – 'add oil' – and is also a homophone of the Chinese character for 'family,' while De De means 'to succeed' and is also a homophone of the Chinese character for 'virtue,' Law added. The twins were born in August to mother Ying Ying and father Le Le, marking the first giant panda births in Hong Kong. Ying Ying and Le Le were both gifted by the central government to Hong Kong in 2007 ahead of the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Ying Ying gave birth to the twins one day before her 19th birthday. She was 'the oldest giant panda on record to have successfully given birth' as a first-time mother, the park said. The nine-month-old panda cubs are growing up 'strong and healthy,' Ocean Park said in a social media post on Tuesday, adding that they weighed 21 kilogrammes each. 'In recent weeks, they have even started mimicking their mother by nibbling on bamboo leaves, though they are not quite ready to eat them and still rely on milk,' the post read. Ocean Park is now home to six giant pandas – the twins, their parents, as well as new additions An An and Ke Ke, who arrived in October as gifts from Beijing. The park, which launched a number of panda-themed experiences in November, said it would 'capitalise on the presence of six giant pandas in the park to drive citywide excitement' this fiscal year. Opened in 1977, Ocean Park is Hong Kong's largest theme park. It also conducts animal conservation research and boasts around two dozen animal attractions, including an alligator marsh, aquariums, and an Arctic fox den. In November, the park announced a HK$71.6 million deficit in its latest fiscal year, despite recording the highest number of visitors in five years. The rise in visitors was driven by non-local visitors, with tourists from mainland China almost quadrupling while those from India and the Philippines increased by more than three and five times, respectively. But at the same time, the park's operating costs increased 17 per cent compared with the previous year, with spending on conservation and education comprising almost 30 per cent of this.