The Hong Kong Film Awards committee released this year's nominations list on Thursday, naming those up for one of the top honors in the Chinese-language movie industry.

High-profile director Zhang Yimou's big-budget blockbuster Curse of the Golden Flower topped the list, receiving 14 nominations, including those for Best Movie, Best Director, and Best Actor and Actress.

Another work by a big name director, Feng Xiaogang's martial arts epic The Banquet, got seven nominations, including those for Best Supporting Actress and Best Art Direction.

Vice Chairman of the Hong Kong Film Award Association, John Chong, talked about the diversity of the nominees.

"The list of nominations is diverse, as you can see. It includes a martial arts film, two royal epic films, a crime film, a mafia film, as well as both melodrama and comedy."

In addition, both of veteran director Johnny To's most recent films, Exiled and Election 2, also entered the nominations list for Best Movie and Best Director.

The 26th Hong Kong Film Awards will be held on April 15.

(CRI February 2, 2007)