THE story of an unlikely friendship between a 10-year-old Pakistani refugee boy and a Hong Kong taxi driver – the directorial debut of Malaysian director Ray Lau, who also wrote the film – made waves at the Golden Horse Awards in Taipei when it won three major awards.
Veteran Hong Kong actor Anthony Wong won the award for Best Leading Actor, while Lau took home the awards for Best New Director and Best Original Screenplay at the ceremony that took place on Saturday. The Sunny Side of the Street was up for a total of six awards.
"I think new directors bring me luck and I should only work with new directors for my future films," Wong joked at the ceremony as the crowd erupted into laughter.
Earlier this year, The Vibes spoke to the men behind the film, including director Lau and producer Peter Yam, and the project’s main investors, PETRA Group chairman Datuk (Dr) Vinod Sekhar and PETRA Films head Darren Shaw.
Lau drew aspects of the story from his own experiences as a Malaysian immigrant in Hong Kong.
“Firstly, the story focuses on what it is like being a refugee in Hong Kong city. I am not a refugee myself, but I put a lot of my personal emotions in it regarding the father-son relationship (or absence of it) because I am not in a close relationship with my family members,” said Lau on the inspiration behind the film.
“I’m so thrilled and pleasantly surprised that as a Malaysian company and working with a Malaysian director we have achieved such recognition from a prestigious award like Golden Horse, where the standards are incredibly high,” said Vinod back in March.
The Sunny Side of the Street is the debut project of PETRA Films, a part of PETRA Group’s media division, which already has plans to announce two more global projects soon. – The Vibes, November 20, 2022
