Taiwanese film director named "most promising" at Asian film festival

Tokyo, March 11 (CNA) Taiwanese film director Lien Chien-hung (練建宏) won the "Most Promising Talent Award" at the 19th Osaka Asian Film Festival on Sunday, according to the festival.

The award is given to the artist who jurors "believe will play an important role in the Asian film world in the future," according to the festival website.

Lien's film, "Salli" (莎莉), also won the "ABC TV Award", which is bestowed by the Asahi Television Broadcasting Corp. for the most entertaining film. The movie will also be shown by the network.

The film follows a 38-year-old woman who starts an online romance using the pseudonym "Salli" with a Frenchman. As people around her start to suspect she could be the victim of an online romance scam, she sets out on a trip to Paris in a bid to find love and herself.

As well as Salli, the Taiwanese film "Trouble Girl" (小曉) directed by Chin Chia-hua (靳家驊) was also nominated for the "Grand Prix" award, which is given for best picture.

Meanwhile, Taiwan's Ministry of Culture cooperated with the festival and held "Taiwan: Movies on the Move 2024," during which four Taiwanese feature films (including Salli and Trouble Girl), two short films, and a digitally remastered version of "The Winter of 1905" (一九零五的冬天), a Hong Kong movie co-written by Edward Yang (楊德昌) were shown.

According to the festival organizers, all Taiwanese film screenings attracted nearly full houses.

This year, 63 films from 24 countries and regions have been invited to the event that ran from March 1-10, according to organizers.