Hong Kong film A Light Never Goes Out disqualified from 2024 Academy Awards amid conflict of interest concern

A Hong Kong film has been disqualified from entering the 2024 Academy Awards, with an industry group pointing to a conflict of interest on a local selection panel as a possible reason for its rejection.

The Federation of Motion Film Producers of Hong Kong issued a notice to the crew of A Light Never Goes Out, telling them it would no longer be in contention for a best international feature film Oscar.

“Unfortunately, we have been notified by the Academy [of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences] that A Light Never Goes Out cannot represent Hong Kong at the Awards,” the film association said in the notice on Monday. “The reason is still being understood by the federation.”

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The local organisation said the film had secured the most votes from its selection committee to represent the city.

“It is a shame that [the film] could not participate in the awards,” it said, adding that the selection process was fair and carried out according to established practices. “This is a very rare and regrettable incident.”

In late September, A Light Never Goes Out was announced as Hong Kong’s entry for the best international feature film category, previously labelled as best foreign-language film.

The film centres on Hong Kong’s once ubiquitous neon signs, and follows a devastated wife’s journey in carrying on the legacy of her late husband who was skilled in producing the structures.

Federation chairman Crucindo Hung Cho-sing said the disqualification was the result of a conflict of interest in the voting process, following two changes to the selection mechanism requested by the Academy in August.

Hung said the first change related to the eligibility of the voters, with people who had been in the selection process for more than six years no longer able to take part, effective immediately.

The Academy endorsed in August the appointment of a new 13-strong selection committee in Hong Kong, to replace the old team of 19 members, upon announcement of the new rules.

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Hung said the second change required those on the committee who had a conflict of interest with a film to be barred from voting for that entry, a rule that was not specified in the past two decades or so.

An actor from A Light Never Goes Out was a member of the new selection committee and voted for the film, which nullified its submission, he said.

“In the email about the change of rules, it only stated: if you’re involved in the film, there will be a conflict of interest,” Hung said. “But it did not spell out explicitly that they are not allowed to vote. So we misunderstood, as per the established mechanism.”

The federation chairman said the film still won a landslide victory even after removing that one vote, but the Academy would not accept the result or the running of a fresh poll that included the feature.

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Hung said nominating the first runner-up, A Guilty Conscience, would not be fair to the original winner as there was a big difference in votes, which led to the federation deciding about a month ago to not nominate any film this year.

In a reply to a local media outlet, the Academy said the submission of A Light Never Goes Out had violated the international feature film award guidelines, which stated “selection committee members cannot have a professional relationship with a film that is considered for official selection”.

Multiple award-winning star Sylvia Chang Ai-chia’s performance in the feature won her a Golden Horse Award for best leading actress last year, with the film also starring other highly decorated actors Simon Yam Tat-wah, Choi Sze-wan and Ben Yuen Fu Wah.

The Academy earlier announced 92 submissions were made for the best international film Oscar, but only 88 qualified.