Top-grosser 'Better Days' walks away with 8 awards

“Better Days” became the biggest winner by taking home eight awards out of 12 nominations, including the best film, best director, and best actress, at the 39th Hong Kong Film Awards on Wednesday.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, this year’s awards for the first time called off the star-studded offline ceremony and simply announced 19 winners via a 10-minute live-streaming broadcast.

Directed by Derek Kwok-cheung Tsang and starring Zhou Dongyu and Jackson Yee, “Better Days” tells the story of a couple of teenagers supporting each other in difficult times and was awarded the best screenplay.

The film also makes Zhou Dongyu, the Golden Horse winner in 2016, the first post-90s Chinese actress to win the best actress awards in both the two renowned film awards. The 19-year-old singer and actor Jackson Yee won the best new performer.

Other awards that went to “Better Days” include the best cinematography, best costume & makeup design, and best original film song.

The film garnered 1.5 billion yuan (US$220 million) in the box office 45 days after it was released in the Chinese mainland in October 2019, making it into the top ten highest-grossing films of the year.

Tai Bo, who spend about 50 years in the film career, beat Jackson Yee in “Better Days” and Louis Koo in “A Witness Out of the Blue” to win the best actor in the drama “Suk Suk.”