Taipei Cultural Center in New York

Lunar New Year 2021 begins on February 12, and Taiwan is preparing to celebrate the Year of the Ox. For example, the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts (NTMoFA) is presenting its annual New Year Prints Exhibition of R.O.C. until the end of February, introducing prize-winning works from its zodiac-themed prints competition. The exhibition, which occurs during the Lunar New Year holiday each year, is considered one of Taiwan’s most iconic and festive art exhibitions. For this year’s edition, “Happy Oxen Welcoming Spring,” 69 artworks were chosen out of 199 total entries due to their extraordinary creativity. Most of the winning artworks represent blessings for health, luck, peace, joy and prosperity – exactly what we need during these challenging times. Taipei Cultural Center in New York is proud to be able to showcase all the winning artworks and two commissioned pieces virtually on Youtube with NTMoFA’s permission.

Moreover, Taipei Cultural Center in New York would like to give away some of the prints* in celebration of the upcoming Lunar New Year. Please email tpecc@tpecc.org with the following message: 
“Yes, please send me a print of ‘Happy Oxen Welcoming Spring.’”** 

*Gifts are subject to availability, and will be deliverd on a first come, first served basis. 
**A valid mailing address and recipient's name are also required.  

After successfully landing on American film critics’ radar last December, "A Sun (陽光普照)," directed and co-written by Taiwanese auteur 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. It is hoped that the award will boost the film's chance of success after being nominated as the Taiwanese entry for Best International Feature Film at the 93rd Academy Awards.

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. Plus, it was reported that the academy would expand the shortlist for international film contenders from 10 to 15.

Additionally, “A Sun” is considered one of the Next in Line Contenders in the Oscar best international feature film category by Variety, while The Hollywood Reporter lists it as one of "the 15 frontrunners in the international film race" for Oscars 2021. As of Jan. 22, “A Sun” holds a 91% Tomatometer score on Rotten Tomatoes, and its IMDb user rating is 7.4. 

Starring Taiwanese actors Chen Yi-wen (陳以文) and Ko Shu-chin (柯淑勤), this 2019 film revolves around a family in the aftermath of the son's arrest and subsequent incarceration in which tragedy ensues. Taiwan Film and Audiovisual Institute’s chairman Lan Tsu-wei (藍祖蔚) says that the film resonates with viewers because it touches on universal family values and addresses issues stemming from family divisions and relationships between father and son, mother and son, and mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. “A Sun” is streaming on Netflix now.

Photo Courtesy of Variety