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Taiwan actor named breakthrough star of Asia by Osaka film festival

  • Date:2019-03-08~2019-03-17
Taiwan actor named breakthrough star of Asia by Osaka film festival

Taiwan actor Roy Chiu (邱澤) has been named the recipient of this year's Osaka Asia Star award for his breakthrough performance as the male lead of award-winning film "Dear EX (誰先愛上他的)." He will join an audiovisual delegation representing Taiwan at the 14th Osaka Asian Film Festival and attend the awards ceremony on March 14.

 

Chiu, 37, made his debut in 2002 and soon rose to prominence after appearing in such popular Taiwanese television dramas as "Miss Rose (螺絲小姐要出嫁)" and "Office Girls (小資女孩向前衝)." Hoping to move beyond being typecast, he rejected lucrative offers from home and abroad and fought for the leading role in "Dear EX," in which he plays a gay role for the first time in his 15-year-old career.

 

The resulting performance was deep and moving, for which he was named best leading actor at the 2018 Taipei Film Awards and received multiple nominations at that year’s Golden Horse Awards. OAFF cites his success in "wonderfully… breaking his established image" for bestowing the Osaka Asia Star title, an accolade that marks a star artist who has played an important role in the Asian film world, and whose further achievement is also expected.

 

To welcome Chiu to Osaka, OAFF will host a special talk in which he will discuss his background and career on March 14 after the Osaka Asia Star award ceremony. More information can be found here: http://www.oaff.jp/2019/en/program/oasa.html.


 

Director's statement:


"Dear EX" is based on a realistic insight into the contemporary repressive society of the world: An average woman enters the eleventh year of an ordinary marriage and suddenly discovers the truth of her husband’s secret. Anger leads her into a state of denial which also deeply affects the the way she educates her son.


We are living in a divisive era. Every single issue can turn into division and controversy. But does every debate necessarily have to end with more disagreements and hostilities? Or perhaps we can strive to comprehend a differing viewpoint that will allow us to accept more calmly different voices in the world that show us that there may not be one single standard answer.


In other related news, the Taiwan Cultural Center in Tokyo has also partnered with OAFF to screen seven cinematic productions under the banner "Taiwan: Movies on the Move 2019" to showcase excellent new releases that mirror the current affairs of Taiwan. The selection includes the aforementioned "Dear EX," as well as "2923," "Chi: The Method of Breathing ()," "Father (紅盒子)," "La Petite Mort (小死亡)," "More Than Blue (比悲傷更悲傷的故事)," and "till next time (楔子)," of which six are Japan premieres.

 

More information on the "Taiwan: Movies on the Move 2019" special section at OAFF can be found at: http://www.oaff.jp/2019/en/program/index.html#tw