Versatile Taiwanese actor Leon Dai (戴立忍) won the Yakushi Pearl Award at the 15th Osaka Asian Film Festival on March 15 for "delivering a convincing performance with delicacy and meticulously controlled emotion" in the 2020 Taiwanese movie "Your Name Engraved Herein (刻在你心底的名字)."
Inspired by real events, the movie begins with two schoolboys who are about to enter into an illicit love affair after martial law is lifted in Taiwan. However, society is homophobic and the threat of violence and social shaming — from both adults and their fellow teens — cause the two to come into conflict as they edge closer to physically acting on their passion for each other.
Directed by Liu Kuang-hui (柳廣輝), "Your Name Engraved Herein" held its world premiere in Osaka earlier this month. Starring Chen Hao-sen (陳昊森) and Tseng Ching-Hua (曾敬驊), and supported by an all-star cast comprising Dai, Wang Shih-sian (王識賢), Fabio Grangeon, and Mimi Shao (邵奕玫), the film is emblematic of the changes in Taiwan, which went from 1988 to the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage.
In awarding the Yakushi Pearl to Dai for best supporting actor, the jury panel commented: "Delivering a convincing performance with delicacy and meticulously controlled emotion, Leon Dai, as the middle-aged protagonist, gave 'Your Name Engraved Herein' an essential profundity and texture. There is no doubt that his performance in the film will open new horizons in his acting career."