22 Nov – "The Sunny Side of The Street", PETRA Films' first feature has clinched three major awards at the Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival (TGHFF), held over the weekend. Malaysian-born director Ray Lau Kok Rui won the once-in-a-lifetime accolade of Best New Director as well as Best Original Screenplay for his maiden film, whilst veteran Hong Kong actor Anthony Wong won the Best Leading Actor award. The Golden Horse Award is one of the most reputed festivals in the world where the awards are among the most prestigious recognitions for the Chinese language film industry. The film had earlier garnered six nominations in the Best New Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Film, Best Leading Actor, Best New Performer and Best Cinematography categories.
"The Sunny Side of the Street" follows the story of a 10-year-old Pakistani refugee boy on the run but finds an unexpected kinship with a Hong Kong taxi driver. Director Ray Lau drew many aspects of the story from his own experiences as a Malaysian immigrant in Hong Kong who arrived there at the age of 18 to pursue his studies. Lau stated that he would love for the movie to be released in Malaysia so that his family and the Malaysian audience will be able to see it in theatres. "We are still talking with the film company and distributor," he added.
"I'm so thrilled that as a Malaysian company, working with a Malaysian director we have achieved such recognition at the prestigious Golden Horse awards, where the standards are incredibly high. It's a beautiful film about unlikely relationships, different cultures, and generations, and yet gives hope to an otherwise tragic situation," said PETRA Group Chairman, Datuk (Dr) Vinod Sekhar. Petra Films, a part of PETRA Group's media division, already has plans to announce two more global projects soon.