Ceremony for the 23rd Hong Kong Film Awards was held on 4 April 2004 in the Hong Kong Cultural Centre. Hosts for the ceremony consisted of Dayo Wong and a line-up of nine female celebrities, namely Bowie Tsang, Athena Chu, Candice Yu, Cherrie Ying, Terri Kwan, Ada Choi, Josie Ho, Kristy Yang and Jo Koo. Twenty-three winners in nineteen categories were unveiled. Running on Karma clinched the award for Best Film, while its leading man Andy Lau received his second Best Actor title in the Hong Kong Film Awards.

Running on Karma, also known as An Intelligent Muscle Man, is a 2003 Hong Kong action thriller film produced and directed by Johnnie To and Wai Ka-fai. The film is ultimately a Buddhist parable about the nature of karma. There were some cuts in the Mainland China edition to meet the requirements for release there.