The Hong Kong Film Awards (HKFA; ), founded in 1982, is an annual film awards ceremony in Hong Kong. The ceremonies are typically in April. The awards recognise achievement in various aspects of filmmaking, such as directing, screenwriting, acting and cinematography. The awards are the Hong Kong equivalent to the American Academy Awards. The HKFA, incorporated into Hong Kong Film Awards Association Ltd. since December 1993, are currently managed by a board of directors, which consists of representatives from thirteen professional film bodies in Hong Kong. Voting on eligible films for the HKFA is conducted January through March every year and is open to all registered voters, which include local film workers as well as critics, and a selected group of adjudicators. General rules The Hong Kong Film Awards are open to all Hong Kong films which are longer than an hour and commercially released in Hong Kong within the previous calendar year. A film qualifies as a Hong Kong film if it satisfies two of the three criteria, namely: the film director is a Hong Kong resident, at least one film company is registered in Hong Kong, and at least six persons of the production crew are Hong Kong residents. Since 2002, the HKFA also feature a Best Asian Film category, which accepts non-Hong Kong films which are commercially released in Hong Kong. In January each year, a first round of election, open to all registered voters and a selected group of 100 professional adjudicators, is held to determine the five nominees for each award category. In the rare case where there is a tie between two nominees within the top five slots, six nominees will be allowed. Nominations are usually announced in February, after which a second round of election is held to determine the winner. Voting in the second round is open to a group of 50 professional adjudicators, Executive Committee members of the HKFA, as well as members of the thirteen professional film bodies. Each voting group holds a percentage of the ultimate score for each nominee, and each film body holds a higher share in the categories associated with it. Board of directors The Board of Directors consists of representatives from thirteen professional film bodies in Hong Kong, listed below. City Entertainment Hong Kong Kowloon and New Territories Motion Picture Industry Association Hong Kong Film Directors' Guild Hong Kong Theatres Association Hong Kong Society of