# Hong Kong Film Award for Best Director

The Hong Kong Film Award for Best Director is an award presented annually at the Hong Kong Film Awards (HKFA). It is given to honour the best director of a Hong Kong film. The 1st Hong Kong Film Awards ceremony was held in 1982, with no formal nomination procedure established; the award was given to Allen Fong for his direction of Father and Son. After the first award ceremony, a nomination system was put in place whereby no more than five nominations are made for each category and each entry is selected through two rounds of voting. Firstly, prospective nominees are marked with a weight of 50% each from HKFA voters and a hundred professional adjudicators, contributing towards a final score with which the top five nominees advance to the second round of voting. The winner is then selected via a scoring process where 55% of the vote comes from 55 professional adjudicators, 25% from representatives of the Hong Kong Film Directors' Guild and 20% from all other HKFA Executive Committee Members.
From the 2nd Hong Kong Film Awards (1983), there are five, sometimes 6, nominations for the category of Best Director from which one director is chosen the winner of the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Director. The most recent recipient of the award was Soi Cheang, who was honoured at the 42nd Hong Kong Film Awards (2024), for his film Mad Fate. The directors with most awards in this category is Ann Hui with six wins, followed by Allen Fong, Johnnie To, Tsui Hark and Wong Kar-wai with 3 times each.

## Winners and nominees

Table key :
| ‡ | Indicates the winner |
| Year | Director(s) | Film |
| 1981 (1st) | Allen Fong | Father and Son |
| 1982 (2nd) | Ann Hui | Boat People |
| 1982 (2nd) | David Lai | Lonely Fifteen |
| 1982 (2nd) | Sammo Hung | The Prodigal Son |
| 1982 (2nd) | Choi Gai-Kwong | Teenage Dreamers |
| 1982 (2nd) | Patrick Tam | Nomad |
| 1983 (3rd) | Allen Fong | Ah Ying |
| 1983 (3rd) | Li Han-hsiang | The Burning of Imperial Palace |
| 1983 (3rd) | Wu Ma | The Dead and the Deadly |
| 1983 (3rd) | Teddy Robin | All the Wrong Spies |
| 1983 (3rd) | Kirk Wong | Health Warning |
| 1984 (4th) | Yim Ho | Homecoming |
| 1984 (4th) | Tsui Hark | Shanghai Blues |
| 1984 (4th) | Johnny Mak | Long Arm of the Law |
| 1984 (4th) | Po-Chih Leong | Hong Kong 1941 |
| 1984 (4th) | Danny Lee Sau-Yin | Law with Two Phases |
| 1985 (5th) | Mabel Cheung | The Illegal Immigrant |
| 1985 (5th) | Stanley Kwan | Women |
| 1985 (5th) | Ricky Lau | Mr. Vampire |
| 1985 (5th) | Sammo Hung | Heart of Dragon |
| 1985 (5th) | Jackie Chan | Police Story |
| 1986 (6th) | Allen Fong | Just Like Weather |
| 1986 (6th) | Stephen Shin | Brotherhood |
| 1986 (6th) | John Woo | A Better Tomorrow |
| 1986 (6th) | Derek Yee | The Lunatics |
| 1986 (6th) | Li Han-Xiang | The Last Emperor |
| 1986 (6th) | Stanley Kwan | Love Unto Waste |
| 1987 (7th) | Ringo Lam | City on Fire |
| 1987 (7th) | Ching Siu-tung | A Chinese Ghost Story |
| 1987 (7th) | Mabel Cheung | An Autumn's Tale |
| 1987 (7th) | Ringo Lam | Prison on Fire |
| 1987 (7th) | Ann Hui | The Romance of Book & Sword |
| 1987 (7th) | Patrick Tam | Final Victory |
| 1988 (8th) | Stanley Kwan | Rouge |
| 1988 (8th) | Lawrence Ah Mon | Gangs |
| 1988 (8th) | Alex Law | Painted Faces |
| 1988 (8th) | Wong Kar-wai | As Tears Go By |
| 1988 (8th) | Jacob Cheung | Last Eunuch in China |
| 1989 (9th) | John Woo | The Killer |
| 1989 (9th) | Johnnie To | All About Ah-Long |
| 1989 (9th) | Jacob Cheung | Beyond the Sunset |
| 1989 (9th) | Anthony Chan Yau | A Fishy Story |
| 1989 (9th) | Mabel Cheung | Eight Taels of Gold |
| 1990 (10th) | Wong Kar-wai | Days of Being Wild |
| 1990 (10th) | John Woo | Bullet in the Head |
| 1990 (10th) | Ann Hui | Song of the Exile |
| 1990 (10th) | Yim Ho | Red Dust |
| 1990 (10th) | Clara Law | Farewell China |
| 1991 (11th) | Tsui Hark | Once Upon a Time in China |
| 1991 (11th) | John Woo | Once a Thief |
| 1991 (11th) | Gordon Chan | Fight Back to School |
| 1991 (11th) | Lawrence Ah Mon | Lee Rock |
| 1991 (11th) | Poon Man-Kit | To Be Number One |
| 1992 (12th) | Jacob Cheung | Cageman |
| 1992 (12th) | Jeffrey Lau | 92 Legendary La Rose Noire |
| 1992 (12th) | Gordon Chan | King of Beggars |
| 1992 (12th) | Tsui Hark | Once Upon a Time in China II |
| 1992 (12th) | Stanley Kwan | Center Stage |
| 1993 (13th) | Derek Yee | C'est la vie, mon chéri |
| 1993 (13th) | Kirk Wong | Crime Story |
| 1993 (13th) | Cha Yuen-Yee | Legal Innocence |
| 1993 (13th) | Peter Chan and Lee Chi-Ngai | Tom, Dick and Hairy |
| 1993 (13th) | Clara Law | Temptation of a Monk |
| 1994 (14th) | Wong Kar-wai | Chungking Express |
| 1994 (14th) | Wong Kar-wai | Ashes of Time |
| 1994 (14th) | Peter Chan | He's a Woman, She's a Man |
| 1994 (14th) | Tsui Hark | The Lovers |
| 1994 (14th) | Gordon Chan | The Final Option |
| 1995 (15th) | Ann Hui | Summer Snow |
| 1995 (15th) | Derek Yee | Full Throttle |
| 1995 (15th) | Wong Kar-wai | Fallen Angels |
| 1995 (15th) | Yim Ho | The Day the Sun Turned Cold |
| 1995 (15th) | Johnnie To | Loving You |
| 1996 (16th) | Peter Chan | Comrades: Almost a Love Story |
| 1996 (16th) | Derek Chiu | The Log |
| 1996 (16th) | Derek Yee and Lau Chi-Leung | Viva Erotica |
| 1996 (16th) | Shu Kei | Hu-Du-Men |
| 1996 (16th) | Benny Chan | Big Bullet |
| 1997 (17th) | Fruit Chan | Made in Hong Kong |
| 1997 (17th) | Wong Kar-wai | Happy Together |
| 1997 (17th) | Ringo Lam | Full Alert |
| 1997 (17th) | Mabel Cheung | The Soong Sisters |
| 1997 (17th) | Johnnie To | Lifeline |
| 1998 (18th) | Gordon Chan and Dante Lam | Beast Cops |
| 1998 (18th) | Stanley Kwan | Hold You Tight |
| 1998 (18th) | Fruit Chan | The Longest Summer |
| 1998 (18th) | Mabel Cheung | City of Glass |
| 1998 (18th) | Patrick Yau | The Longest Nite |
| 1999 (19th) | Johnnie To | The Mission |
| 1999 (19th) | Sylvia Chang | Tempting Heart |
| 1999 (19th) | Ann Hui | Ordinary Heroes |
| 1999 (19th) | Ringo Lam | Victim |
| 1999 (19th) | Johnnie To | Running Out of Time |
| 2000 (20th) | Ang Lee | Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon |
| 2000 (20th) | Wong Kar-wai | In the Mood for Love |
| 2000 (20th) | Fruit Chan | Durian Durian |
| 2000 (20th) | Johnnie To and Wai Ka-fai | Needing You... |
| 2000 (20th) | Wilson Yip | Juliet in Love |
| 2001 (21st) | Stephen Chow | Shaolin Soccer |
| 2001 (21st) | Ann Hui | July Rhapsody |
| 2001 (21st) | Stanley Kwan | Lan Yu |
| 2001 (21st) | Johnnie To and Wai Ka-fai | Love on a Diet |
| 2001 (21st) | Ann Hui | Visible Secret |
| 2002 (22nd) | Andrew Lau and Alan Mak | Infernal Affairs |
| 2002 (22nd) | Law Chi-Leung | Inner Senses |
| 2002 (22nd) | Peter Chan | Three: Going Home |
| 2002 (22nd) | Fruit Chan | Hollywood Hong Kong |
| 2002 (22nd) | Zhang Yimou | Hero |
| 2003 (23rd) | Johnnie To | PTU |
| 2003 (23rd) | Johnnie To and Wai Ka-fai | Running on Karma |
| 2003 (23rd) | Derek Yee | Lost in Time |
| 2003 (23rd) | Andrew Lau and Alan Mak | Infernal Affairs II |
| 2003 (23rd) | Benny Chan Muk-Sing | Heroic Duo |
| 2004 (24th) | Derek Yee | One Nite in Mongkok |
| 2004 (24th) | Wong Kar-wai | 2046 |
| 2004 (24th) | Stephen Chow | Kung Fu Hustle |
| 2004 (24th) | Benny Chan Muk-Sing | New Police Story |
| 2004 (24th) | Johnnie To | Breaking News |
| 2005 (25th) | Johnnie To | Election |
| 2005 (25th) | Derek Yee | 2 Young |
| 2005 (25th) | Andrew Lau and Alan Mak | Initial D |
| 2005 (25th) | Peter Chan | Perhaps Love |
| 2005 (25th) | Tsui Hark | Seven Swords |
| 2006 (26th) | Patrick Tam | After This Our Exile |
| 2006 (26th) | Jacob Cheung | A Battle of Wits |
| 2006 (26th) | Johnnie To | Election 2 |
| 2006 (26th) | Johnnie To | Exiled |
| 2006 (26th) | Zhang Yimou | Curse of the Golden Flower |
| 2007 (27th) | Peter Chan | The Warlords |
| 2007 (27th) | Ann Hui | The Postmodern Life of My Aunt |
| 2007 (27th) | Yau Nai-Hoi | Eye in the Sky |
| 2007 (27th) | Johnnie To and Wai Ka-fai | Mad Detective |
| 2007 (27th) | Derek Yee | Protégé |
| 2008 (28th) | Ann Hui | The Way We Are |
| 2008 (28th) | Benny Chan | Connected |
| 2008 (28th) | John Woo | Red Cliff |
| 2008 (28th) | Johnnie To | Sparrow |
| 2008 (28th) | Wilson Yip | Ip Man |
| 2009 (29th) | Teddy Chan | Bodyguards and Assassins |
| 2009 (29th) | Ann Hui | Night and Fog |
| 2009 (29th) | John Woo | Red Cliff II |
| 2009 (29th) | Derek Yee | Shinjuku Incident |
| 2009 (29th) | Alan Mak and Felix Chong | Overheard |
| 2010 (30th) | Tsui Hark | Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame |
| 2010 (30th) | Derek Kwok and Clement Cheng | Gallants |
| 2010 (30th) | Wilson Yip | Ip Man 2 |
| 2010 (30th) | Su Chao-pin | Reign of Assassins |
| 2010 (30th) | Dante Lam | The Stool Pigeon |
| 2011 (31st) | Ann Hui | A Simple Life |
| 2011 (31st) | Johnnie To | Life without Principle |
| 2011 (31st) | Tsui Hark | Flying Swords of Dragon Gate |
| 2011 (31st) | Alan Mak and Felix Chong | Overheard 2 |
| 2011 (31st) | Jiang Wen | Let the Bullets Fly |
| 2012 (32nd) | Longman Leung and Sunny Luk Kim Ching | Cold War |
| 2012 (32nd) | Soi Cheang | Motorway |
| 2012 (32nd) | Pang Ho-cheung | Love in the Buff |
| 2012 (32nd) | Lo Chi Leung | The Bullet Vanishes |
| 2012 (32nd) | Dante Lam | The Viral Factor |
| 2013 (33rd) | Wong Kar Wai | The Grandmaster |
| 2013 (33rd) | Johnnie To | Drug War |
| 2013 (33rd) | Benny Chan | The White Storm |
| 2013 (33rd) | Derek Kwok | As the Light Goes Out |
| 2013 (33rd) | Dante Lam | Unbeatable |
| 2014 (34th) | Ann Hui | The Golden Era |
| 2014 (34th) | Fruit Chan | The Midnight After |
| 2014 (34th) | Peter Chan | Dearest |
| 2014 (34th) | Dante Lam | That Demon Within |
| 2014 (34th) | Alan Mak and Felix Chong | Overheard 3 |
| 2015 (35th) | Tsui Hark | The Taking Of Tiger Mountain |
| 2015 (35th) | Adrian Kwan Shun Fai | Little Big Master |
| 2015 (35th) | Derek Yee | I Am Somebody |
| 2015 (35th) | Wilson Yip | Ip Man 3 |
| 2015 (35th) | Philip Yung Tsz Kwong | Port of Call |
| 2016 (36th) | Frank Hui, Jevons Au and Vicky Wong | Trivisa |
| 2016 (36th) | Wong Chun | Mad World |
| 2016 (36th) | Derek Tsang | Soul Mate |
| 2016 (36th) | Johnnie To | Three |
| 2016 (36th) | Stephen Chow | The Mermaid |
| 2017 (37th) | Ann Hui | Our Time Will Come |
| 2017 (37th) | Kearen Pang | 29+1 |
| 2017 (37th) | Herman Yau | Shock Wave |
| 2017 (37th) | Sylvia Chang | Love Education |
| 2017 (37th) | Wilson Yip | Paradox |
| 2018 (38th) | Felix Chong | Project Gutenberg |
| 2018 (38th) | Fruit Chan | Three Husbands |
| 2018 (38th) | Dante Lam | Operation Red Sea |
| 2018 (38th) | Sunny Chan | Men On The Dragon |
| 2018 (38th) | Oliver Chan Siu Kuen | Still Human |
| 2019 (39th) | Derek Tsang | Better Days |
| 2019 (39th) | Kiwi Chow | Beyond the Dream |
| 2019 (39th) | Ray Yeung | Suk Suk |
| 2019 (39th) | Heiward Mak | Fagara |
| 2019 (39th) | Wilson Yip | Ip Man 4: The Finale |
| 2020 and 2021 (40th) | Benny Chan | Raging Fire |
| 2020 and 2021 (40th) | Peter Chan | Leap |
| 2020 and 2021 (40th) | Soi Cheang | Limbo |
| 2020 and 2021 (40th) | Longman Leung | Anita |
| 2020 and 2021 (40th) | Man Lim-chung | Keep Rolling |
| 2022 (41st) | Wai Ka-fai | Detective vs Sleuths |
| 2022 (41st) | Ho Cheuk Tin | The Sparring Partner |
| 2022 (41st) | Lam Sum | The Narrow Road |
| 2022 (41st) | Mabel Cheung and William Kwok | To My Nineteen Year Old Self |
| 2022 (41st) | Sunny Chan | Table for Six |
| 2023 (42nd) | Soi Cheang | Mad Fate |
| 2023 (42nd) | Nick Cheuk | Time Still Turns the Pages |
| 2023 (42nd) | Felix Chong | The Goldfinger |
| 2023 (42nd) | Jack Ng | A Guilty Conscience |
| 2023 (42nd) | Lawrence Kan | In Broad Daylight |

## Multiple wins and nominations

| Wins | Director | Years |
| 6 | Ann Hui | 1982, 1997, 2008, 2011, 2014, 2017 |
| 3 | Allen Fong | 1981, 1983, 1986 |
| 3 | Johnnie To | 1999, 2003, 2005 |
| 3 | Tsui Hark | 1991, 2010, 2015 |
| 3 | Wong Kar-wai | 1990, 1994, 2013 |
| 2 | Derek Yee | 1993, 2004 |
| 2 | Peter Chan | 1996, 2007 |
| Nominations | Director |
| 18 | Johnnie To |
| 13 | Ann Hui |
| 10 | Derek Yee |
| 9 | Wong Kar-wai |
| 8 | Peter Chan |
| 8 | Tsui Hark |
| 6 | Alan Mak |
| 6 | Benny Chan |
| 6 | Dante Lam |
| 6 | Fruit Chan |
| 6 | John Woo |
| 6 | Mabel Cheung |
| 6 | Stanley Kwan |
| 6 | Wilson Yip |
| 5 | Felix Chong |
| 5 | Wai Ka-Fai |
| 4 | Gordon Chan |
| 4 | Jacob Cheung |
| 4 | Ringo Lam |
| 3 | Allen Fong |
| 3 | Andrew Lau |
| 3 | Patrick Tam |
| 3 | Soi Cheang |
| 3 | Stephen Chow |
| 3 | Yim Ho |

## Records

| Items | Name | Statistics | Notes |
| Most wins | Ann Hui | 6 wins | 13 nominations |
| Most nominations | Johnnie To | 18 nominations | 3 wins |
| Oldest winner | Ann Hui | Age 70 years, 327 days | For Our Time Will Come |
| Oldest nominee | Mabel Cheung | Age 72 years, 150 days | For To My Nineteen-Year-Old Self |
| Youngest winner | Stanley Kwan | Age 31 years, 182 days | For Rouge |
| Youngest nominee | Stanley Kwan | Age 31 years | For Rouge |
| Most nominations without a win | Wilson Yip | 6 nominations | |