The Ministry of Culture will be nominating local thriller film "Soul” (失魂) for the foreign language category of the 86th Academy Awards in 2014.
"The director, with his precise mises en scene, portrays the mental and behavioral disorder of a human being in an isolated and enclosed environment. The film draws the audience into a horrible and thrilling world and examines violence and the fragility of human beings in a cinematic way,” the selection panel announced in a statement.
"Soul” is a cinematic adaptation of a haunting novel of the same name. Written and directed by author-filmmaker Chung Mong-hong (鍾孟宏), the story unravels the mystery behind a young man's sudden change of personality and memory loss - is it the onset of a mental disorder or could there be a more sinister explanation?
Chung's directorial debut stars martial arts master Jimmy Wong (王羽), model-turned-actor Joseph Chang (張孝全), the star-studded Leon Dai (戴立忍) and actor-playwright ChinShih-chieh (金士傑). It was released in Taiwan on Aug. 30 and is still showing in local cinemas, which makes it an eligible submission for next year's foreign language film Oscar.
The Ministry's Bureau of Audiovisual and Pop Music Industry Development will provide up to NT$1.5 million (US$50,566) to meetOscar requirements such as English subtitles. 'Soul' was chosen from atotal of 14 films that were submitted for consideration this year.
Meanwhile, the Bureau has selected five other feature films and short films, including "Rooftop” (天臺), "Step Back to Glory” (志氣), "The Solitary Pier” (寂寞碼頭) and "Before Summer Rain” (小夏天) as Taiwan's submissions for the 56th Asia-Pacific Film Festival this December.
The Ministry will continue to help local filmmakers toparticipate in international film festivals and hereby sends its best regards to all the Taiwanese entries.
'Soul' /失魂
“Soul” is author-filmmaker Chung Mong-hong’s directorial debut.