The award-winning gay-themed comedy “ Dear Ex” (誰先愛上他的) will represent Taiwan at the 2020 Academy Awards, reports said Thursday (September 12).
The movie will compete in the category for “Best International Feature Film,” until now better known as the “Best Foreign Language Film” award.
“Dear Ex” tells the story of a widow discovering how her husband left his money not to her, but to a secret gay lover. Instead of choosing her side, her rebellious teenage son moves in with his late father’s partner.
The selection committee, which picked “Dear Ex” for the Oscars out of 16 contenders, praised the movie for its humorous look at a milestone in Taiwan’s human rights development, the Central News Agency reported.
The movie was directed by Mag Hsu (徐譽庭) and Hsu Chih-yen (許智彥), and won three major awards at the 20th Taipei Film Awards, for best movie, best leading actor for Roy Chiu (邱澤) and best leading actress for Hsieh Ying-hsuan (謝盈萱), who also went on to win the best leading actress award at the 55th Golden Horse Awards.
The 92nd Oscars ceremony is scheduled for February 9, 2020. Candidates for the best international feature film award go through several selection rounds until only five movies are left.
The only Taiwanese film to have won the award was Ang Lee’s “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” in 2000.
By Taiwan News
