Taiwanese film "A Sun (陽光普照)," directed by Chung Mong-hong (鍾孟宏), won the Best Foreign Language Feature at the Houston Film Critics Society's (HFCS) 14th annual awards on Jan. 18 — beating out top contenders including Danish film "Another Round," Brazilian-French film "Bacurau," Russian film "Beanpole," and Guatemalan film "La Llorona."
Starring Taiwanese actors Chen Yi-wen (陳以文) and Ko Shu-chin (柯淑勤), the 2019 film revolves around a family in the aftermath of the son's arrest and subsequent incarceration in which tragedy ensues.
South Korea’s widely acclaimed film "Parasite" won Best Foreign Language Feature at the 13th HFCS awards, before proceeding to win Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best International Feature Film at the 92nd Academy Awards in 2020. Having won the same award as "Parasite" from HFCS this time around, "A Sun" is expected to garner increased recognition.
"A Sun" was previously named as one of the "best films of 2020" by American weekly entertainment publication Variety, while The Hollywood Reporter listed it as one of "the 15 frontrunners in the international film race" for the Oscars.
The film was also selected for the Busan International Film Festival, Tokyo International Film Festival, Singapore International Film Festival and Palm Spring International Film Festival.
Domestically, "A Sun" received 11 nominations at the 56th Golden Horse Awards, winning Best Narrative Feature, Best Director, Best Leading Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Film Editing and Audience Choice.
Fans hope that North American distributors of "A Sun" will do more to draw the world's attention to the production, which, in addition to promoting the film, will help shine a spotlight on Taiwan.