Taiwanese coming-of-age film "Meeting Dr. Sun (行動代號：孫中山),” directed by filmmaker Yee Chih-yen (易智言) and featuring a predominately young cast, captured the top honors at the Osaka Asian Film Festival on March 15.
"Meeting Dr. Sun” tells of two young boys competing for the title of the poorest kid in town — a feat that shall be determined by whoever captures the bronze bust of Dr. Sun Yat-sen on campus.
The 2014 production was named winner of the Best Picture Award (Grand Prix) and the Audience Award, the latter being a choice award based on voting by visitors to the film festival screenings.
The judges praised Lee on his eye for detail, the accurate portrayal of modern Taiwanese society, and his ability to coax stellar performances from such young actors.
"Meeting Dr. Sun” was one out of the four contemporary productions selected by the Taipei Cultural Center in Japan for screening at the Osaka festival.
"Paradise in Service (軍中樂園),” which follows a young conscript's adventures in frontline brothels on the outlying Kinmen Island; "Sashimi (沙西米),” featuring award-winning actor Lee Kang-sheng (李康生); and "Second Chance (逆轉勝),” featuring Mayday guitarist Monster Wen (溫尚翊) round up the film list under the "Taiwan: Movies on the Move 2015” program.
The Osaka festival also organized a retrospective series on New Wave Cinema director Edward Yang (楊德昌), offering the 1986 disoriented classic "Terrorizers (恐怖份子),” as well as a digitally re-mastered version of the 1982 four-part omnibus film "In Our Time (光陰的故事)” and its 2014 counterpart, "Flowers of Taipei - Taiwan New Cinema (光陰的故事- 台灣新電影).”
The Taipei Cultural Center in Japan is also working closely with the Osaka festival organizers to bring more Taiwanese films to Japanese theaters for commercial screenings.
Taiwanese director Yee Chih-yen's "Meeting Dr. Sun" won both Best Picture and the Audience Award at the Osaka Asian Film Festival in Japan.
