The Sunny Side of the Street (film)

The Sunny Side of the Street (Chinese: 白日青春) is a 2022 Hong Kong drama film written and directed by Lau Kok Rui. The feature debut of Malaysia-born Lau Kok-rui, the film tells the story of a Hong Kong-born Pakistani refugee boy who forms an unexpected bond with a local taxi driver.

The Sunny Side of the Street
Promotional poster
Traditional Chinese	白日青春
Simplified Chinese	白日青春
Literal meaning	Daytime Youth
Hanyu Pinyin	Bái rì qīng chūn
Directed by	Lau Kok Rui
Written by	Lau Kok-rui
Produced by	Vinod Sekhar Winnie Tsang Soi Cheang Peter Yam
Starring	Anthony Wong Sahal Zaman Inderjeet Singh Kiranjeet Gill Sohail Saghir
Cinematography	Leung Ming Kai
Edited by	Matthieu Laclau Tsai Yann-shan
Production companies	Petra Films Thousand Sails Pictures 70 Plus Production Company
Release date	15 November 2022 (2022-11-15) (Taipei Golden Horse)
Running time	111 minutes[1]
Country	Hong Kong[2]
Languages	Cantonese Urdu

Cast

• Anthony Wong
• Sahal Zaman [zh]
• Endy Chow
• Inderjeet Singh
• Kiranjeet Gill
• Sohail Saghir
• Lawrence Lau Shek Yin [zh]
• Tai Bo [zh; ko]
• Joe Cheung
• Felix Lok
• Patra Au
• Fire Lee [zh]
• Yuvraj Singh

Production

The Sunny Side of the Street was produced mainly by Petra Films, a production company under Petra Group, a global conglomerate run by Malaysian businessman Vinod Sekhar. Produced for an estimated cost of around US$1 million, the film was the studio's debut project.^[3][4]

Release

The film's New York Premiere was at the 22nd New York Asian Film Festival in the 'Beyond Borders' section on 17 July 2023.^[5][6]

Awards and nominations

Sahal Zaman won the Hong Kong Film Award for Best New Performer for his role in The Sunny Side of the Street

Awards	Category	Recipient	Result	Ref.
59th Golden Horse Awards	Best Narrative Feature	The Sunny Side of the Street	Nominated	[7]
	Best Leading Actor	Anthony Wong	Won
	Best New Director	Lau Kok Rui	Won
	Best New Performer	Sahal Zaman	Nominated
	Best Original Screenplay	Lau Kok-rui	Won
	Best Cinematography	Leung Ming Kai	Nominated
	Audience Choice Award	The Sunny Side of the Street	Nominated
	FIPRESCI Prize	The Sunny Side of the Street	Nominated
	NETPAC Award	The Sunny Side of the Street	Nominated
	Observation Missions for Asian Cinema Award	The Sunny Side of the Street	Nominated
41st Hong Kong Film Awards	Best Actor	Anthony Wong	Nominated	[8]
	Best New Performer	Sahal Zaman	Won
	Best Screenplay	Lau Kok Rui	Nominated
	Best New Director		Nominated

References

1. "台北金馬影展 Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival | The Sunny Side of the Street". www.goldenhorse.org.tw (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Retrieved 19 November 2022.
2. "The Sunny Side of the Street". Marché du Film. Retrieved 27 September 2022.
3. Wong, Silvia. "How 'Borrowed Time' and 'The Sunny Side Of The Street' rose through the HAF ranks". Screen. Retrieved 27 September 2022.
4. "'The Sunny Side of the Street' touches on immigrant realities, optimism and resilience". The Vibes. 20 March 2022. Retrieved 27 September 2022.
5. "The Sunny Side of the Street: 22nd New York Asian Film Festival". NYAFF. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
6. "New York Asian Film Festival 2023". Film at Lincoln Center. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
7. "Hong Kong film 'Limbo' leads Golden Horse Award nominations - Focus Taiwan". focustaiwan.tw. Retrieved 27 September 2022.
8. "Nomination List of The 41st Hong Kong Film Awards". Hong Kong Film Awards. Retrieved 18 April 2023.

External links

• The Sunny Side of the Street at IMDb
• The Sunny Side of the Street on Facebook