Aaron Kwok in a scene from ‘Port of Call.’
PHOTO: The Hong Kong International Film Festival Society

Hong Kong’s Motion Picture Industry Association has submitted “Port of Call” by director Philip Yung to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as it entry in the foreign-language film category.

The gritty psychological thriller – inspired by a grisly real-life murder in Hong Kong of a teenage girl from mainland China – premiered at the 39th Hong Kong International Film Festival in 2015 as the closing film and has since been showered with awards.

At the Hong Kong Film Awards in April, it won best actor for Aaron Kwok, best actress for Jessie Li, best supporting actor and best new performer for Michael Ning, best supporting actress for Elaine Jin, best cinematography for Christopher Doyle and best screenplay for Mr. Yung. The Hong Kong Film Critics Society named “Port of Call” as best film of 2015, and it also picked up additional honors at the Asian Film Awards, the Golden Horse Awards in Taiwan and South Korea’s Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival.

The Academy’s foreign-language film nominees are decided in two phases, eginning with a shortlist of nine films selected by a committee. That list is later narrowed to five nominated films, which are voted on by all Academy members who have screened them.

The Oscar ceremony will be held in Hollywood on Feb. 26.