ELECTION - ELECTION BIG WINNER AT HONG KONG FILM AWARDS

Gangster movie ELECTION was the big winner at last night's (09APR06) Hong Kong Film Festival, scooping four gongs. While historical epic SEVEN SWORDS failed to convert any of its 11 nominations into statuettes, Election film-maker JOHNNIE TO won both the Best Film and Best Director awards, even though he was not present at the ceremony. TONY LEUNG KA FAI was named Best Actor for his role in the Triad drama, and NAI-HOI YAU and TIN-SHING YIP picked up the Best Screenplay award. ZHOU XUN was named Best Actress for her performance in the musical PERHAPS LOVE - which also took home gongs for Best Art Direction, Best Make-Up and Best Cinematography. Taiwanese pop singer JAY CHOU was named Best newcomer for his performance in the racing movie INITIAL D.