School pulls troubled film from awards race

Controversial documentary To My Nineteen-year-old Self was pulled out of the 41st Hong Kong Film Awards minutes after it was nominated for best film yesterday.

Ying Wa Girls' School, which commissioned the documentary, said on its website the film has aroused concerns in society and it therefore decided to pull it out of the best film selection after careful consideration.

The move came shortly after the Hong Kong Film Awards Association announced this year's list of nominees.

However, Mabel Cheung Yuen-ting and William Kwok Wai-lun retained their nomination for best director. To My Nineteen-year-old Self was also nominated for best film editing.

In its statement, the school said "we appreciate the nomination by the Hong Kong Film Awards Association and election committee's members."

Screening of the film in cinemas has been suspended since Monday and the school said it would continue to communicate with the production team and alumni involved with a view to conducting a review of the matter.

Kwok, who co-directed the documentary, said he would accept the nomination while Cheung said she would respect Kwok's decision and cooperate with him.

Cheung said she will not attend the awards ceremony at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre on April 16.

"This documentary, To My Nineteen-year-old Self, has presented a wonderful and inspiring life on screen, but things and experiences behind the camera during this 10-year production are also unforgettable and precious," Kwok said. "Like humans, film also has a life. As a director, our job has been done but the life of the product continues."

Kwok thanked the support shown by the film awards and voters in the movie industry, which he said has given recognition to the crew's decade-long efforts.

The documentary was pulled from big screens on Monday amid privacy invasion complaints from Olympic cyclist Sarah Lee Wai-sze and two students featured in it, Wang Zhuo-ling and Britney Shear Lai-mei.

The film records the growth of six students at Ying Wa Girls' School as part of a fund-raising project in 2012.

Four other movies were nominated for the best film, namely The Sparring Partner, Warriors of Future, Detective vs Sleuths, and The Narrow Road.

Hong Kong Film Awards Association chairman Derek Yee Tung-sing said they will discuss the withdrawal and "handle this matter very carefully."

In a related development, Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data Ada Chung Lai-ling said guidelines could be issued to film productions in the city in view of the controversy.

Expressing concern over the incident, Chung said they were communicating with the school for information relating to the case.

sophie.hui@singtaonewscorp.com