Ordinary Heroes
film poster
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	千言萬語
Simplified Chinese	千言万语
Literal meaning	thousands of words
Transcriptions Yue: Cantonese Jyutping Cin1 Jin4 Maan6 Jyu5
Directed by	Ann Hui
Written by	Chan King-chung
Produced by	Ann Hui
Starring	Loletta Lee Lee Kang-sheng Anthony Wong Tse Kwan-ho
Cinematography	Yu Lik-wai
Edited by	Kwong Chi-leung
Music by	Chiu Tsang-hei Hui Yuen
Production company	Class Limited Productions
Release date	10 April 1999 (1999-04-10)
Running time	128 minutes
Country	Hong Kong
Language	Cantonese

Ordinary Heroes is a 1999 Hong Kong drama film directed and produced by Ann Hui. Based on real-life prototypes, the film focused on social activists in the 1970s and 1980s who fought defiantly against the British Colonial government for the rights of the Yau Ma Tei boat people and their mainland wives. Mostly leftists and Communist sympathisers, their despair after the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre is also highlighted.

The Chinese title refers to a popular Teresa Teng song which played during the film. Ordinary Heroes was critically acclaimed, winning Best Picture at the 19th Hong Kong Film Awards and the 36th Golden Horse Awards in Taiwan, among others.

Cast

• Loletta Lee as Sow Fung-tai (credited as Rachel Lee)
  • Lee Kim-yu as teenaged Sow Fung-tai
• Lee Kang-sheng as Lee Siu-tung
  • Cheung Nga-kwan as teenaged Lee Siu-tung
• Anthony Wong as Father Kam
• Tse Kwan-ho as Yau Ming-foon
• Paw Hee-ching as Lee's mother
• Lawrence Ah Mon as police officer
• Mok Chiu-yu as street performer
• Ann Hui as director (cameo)

Awards

It won the prestigious Best Picture award at the 19th Hong Kong Film Awards, as well as five awards at the Golden Horse Film Festival, including Best Film. It was chosen as Hong Kong's official Best Foreign Language Film submission at the 72nd Academy Awards, but did not manage to receive a nomination.^[1] It was also entered into the 49th Berlin International Film Festival.^[2]