HONG KONG (Kyodo) -- Japan's Kenji Tanigaki has won the best action choreography prize for his work on the Hong Kong film "Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In" at the Hong Kong Film Awards.

Inspired by action star Jackie Chan, Tanigaki built his career as a stuntman in Hong Kong and served as action director of Donnie Yen's "Sakra" and Japanese film "Rurouni Kenshin."

Receiving a commemorative gift from Japanese action actor Yasuaki Kurata, who has appeared in many Hong Kong movies, at the award ceremony Sunday, Tanigaki said, "When I apprenticed under Mr. Kurata in 1989, my dream was to be recognized as a Hong Kong film person. Today, I can finally say I've become one."

Twilight of the Warriors, directed by Soi Cheang and starring Raymond Lam, won awards in several categories including best director and best actor.

The film was released in Hong Kong last year. It is set in the Kowloon Walled City in the 1980s during the British colonial era. It blends martial arts with nostalgia for the demolished city, following a male illegal immigrant from mainland China who joins friends to battle rival factions.