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Social inequality might be considered “a tale as old as time”. No matter the century or year, its intricacies intrigue the creative industry, from literature to cinema. After all, equality still represents an unattainable goal. But to face such a topic, one should also be able to question their own sense of morality. And ‘Old Fox‘ by Hsiao Ya-chuan, winner of four Golden Horse Awards, is an evocative journey that challenges us to question our present by looking at the past.

Old Fox is screening at Asian Pop Up Cinema

Set in the late 80s, the film tells the story of 11-year-old Liao Jie (Bai Run-yin) and his father Liao Tai-lai (Kuan Ting-Liu). Father and son live in poverty, as Tai-lai is only a waiter and the sole provider. While skimping on clothes, gas, and everything else needed, the father hopes to save enough money to fulfill his late wife...

How to teach your kids right from wrong without laying the groundwork for them to become a complete pushover in later life? That’s the conundrum explored in Hsaio Ya-chuan’s Old Fox, the Taiwanese submission for the Best International Feature Oscar.

Set in 1990, at the height of Taiwan’s economic bubble, it concerns an 11-year-old boy named Liao Jie (Bai Run-yin), who lives with his widowed father Liao Tai-Lai (Liu Kuan-Ting). Liao Tai-Lai is a gifted musician who dreams of opening his own barber shop but cannot afford it. By chance, Liao Jie comes to befriend his neighborhood’s notorious landlord, Mr. Xie (Akio Chen), and the difference between the two men — one kind but poor, the other ruthless but rich — forces the youngster to wonder which might be the most effective role model.

“The inspiration actually came from the questions that my kids asked me when they were...

Set in Taipei, against the backdrop of the economic bubble of 1989, the Taiwanese international feature Oscar submission “Old Fox” is a relatively engaging popular melodrama about altruism vs. self-interest and inequality of all sorts. In his fourth feature, director Hsiao Ya-Chuan follows the unsentimental education of a motherless 11-year-old boy, Liao Jie (Bai Run-yin), raised in poverty by his kindly father, Liao Tai-lai (Liu Kuan-Ting), a waiter at a busy banqueting hall. One rainy day, the bullied lad comes to the attention of his landlord, the wealthy Boss Xie (Akio Chen), nicknamed Old Fox for his cunning. Recognizing his younger self in the small boy, Old Fox tries to teach Jie how he rose to wealth and power.

The screenplay by the director and co-writer Chan I-wen, is inspired by helmer Hsiao’s attempts to explain fairness and justice to his own children. They create a gripping moral quandary for their young protagonist,...

Join us as we review Old Fox (2023), Hsiao Ya-chuan‘s nostalgic coming-of-age drama that captured four Golden Horse Awards and is Taiwan’s official Oscar submission. Set against the backdrop of Taiwan’s transformative late ’80s, the film tells the heartfelt story of young Liao Jie (Bai Run-yin) navigating a moral tug-of-war between his empathetic father, Tai-lai (Kuan Ting-Liu), and the cunning landlord “Old Fox” (Akio Chen).

With a mix of noir aesthetics, captivating performances, and a nostalgic depiction of Taiwan’s changing socio-economic landscape, Old Fox delivers an entertaining yet flawed fairy-tale-like tale of morality. Is it as profound as it aims to be, or does its romanticized elements hold it back? Watch our in-depth breakdown of this crowd-pleasing Golden Horse winner!

Let us know your thoughts on Old Fox! Team Tai-lai or Team Old Fox?...

Entries for the 2025 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.

The 97th Academy Awards is set to take place on March 3, 2025 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.

An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture (over 40 minutes) produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50%) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.

Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between November 1, 2023, and September 30, 2024. The deadline for submissions to the Academy is October 2.

A shortlist of 15 finalists is scheduled to...

Entries for the 2025 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.

The 97th Academy Awards is set to take place on March 3, 2025 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.

An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture (over 40 minutes) produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50%) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.

Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between November 1, 2023, and September 30, 2024. The deadline for submissions to the Academy is October 2.

A shortlist of 15 finalists is scheduled to...

Entries for the 2025 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.

The 97th Academy Awards is set to take place on March 3, 2025 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.

An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture (over 40 minutes) produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50%) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.

Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between November 1, 2023, and September 30, 2024. The deadline for submissions to the Academy is October 2.

A shortlist of 15 finalists is scheduled to...

Entries for the 2025 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.

The 97th Academy Awards is set to take place on March 3, 2025 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.

An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture (over 40 minutes) produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50%) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.

Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between November 1, 2023, and September 30, 2024. The deadline for submissions to the Academy is October 2.

A shortlist of 15 finalists is scheduled to...

Entries for the 2025 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.

The 97th Academy Awards is set to take place on March 3, 2025 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.

An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture (over 40 minutes) produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50%) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.

Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between November 1, 2023, and September 30, 2024. The deadline for submissions to the Academy is October 2.

A shortlist of 15 finalists is scheduled to...

Source: Bit Production

‘Old Fox’

Entries for the 2025 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.

The 97th Academy Awards is set to take place on March 3, 2025 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.

An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture (over 40 minutes) produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50%) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.

Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between November 1, 2023, and September 30, 2024. The deadline for submissions to the Academy is October 2.

A shortlist...

Taiwan’s Ministry of Culture (Moc) has selected Old Fox as its entry in the Best International Feature Film category for the 2025 Academy Awards.

Old Fox is directed by Hsiao Ya-chuan, who won Best Director at the Golden Horse Film Awards last year for the film. Hsiao has directed works like Taipei Exchanges (2010) and Father to Son (2018).

Selected as Taiwan’s submission from a pool of 14 films, Old Fox follows an 11-year old boy living with his poor father as he navigates the struggles between the worldliness and kindness of humanity. The boy soon befriends his landlord, nicknamed Old Fox.

On the film’s selection, the Moc stated that Old Fox is a “fable of the social classes amid social change and drastic economic impact of late 1980s Taiwan” and “gives a profound analysis of humanity with its motif, narration, layout and subtle depictions of daily life.”

At the Golden Horse Film Awards,...

Source: Bit Production

‘Old Fox’

Entries for the 2025 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.

The 97th Academy Awards is set to take place on March 3, 2025 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.

An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture (over 40 minutes) produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50%) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.

Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between November 1, 2023, and September 30, 2024. The deadline for submissions to the Academy is October 2.

A shortlist...

With a mix of nostalgia and modernity, “Old Fox” by Hsiao Ya-chuan brings to light the difficulty of portraying social inequality. By doing that, the film works as a bridge between the past and present, showing how some social issues are still alive and relevant to a contemporary audience. This bridge works thanks to the three distinctive characters of three different generations, which resembles this relationship between Taiwan in the 80s and Taiwan now.

Hsiao Ya-chuan's career has always used history to tell stories still relevant today, especially with family relations as the narrative focus. We got the chance to speak to the director at Udine's Far East Film Festival about his inspirations and the motifs behind his most recent heart-warming story.

How did the film's style come to be? “Old Fox” presents some nostalgic elements, like those of 80s movies. For example, when the father plays the saxophone in the background.

Social inequality might be considered “a tale as old as time”. No matter the century or year, its intricacies intrigue the creative industry, from literature to cinema. After all, equality still represents an unattainable goal. But to face such a topic, one should also be able to question their own sense of morality. And ‘Old Fox' by Hsiao Ya-chuan, winner of four Golden Horse Awards, is an evocative journey that challenges us to question our present by looking at the past.

Old Fox is screening at San Diego Asian Film Festival Spring Showcase

Set in the late 80s, the film tells the story of 11-year-old Liao Jie (Bai Run-yin) and his father Liao Tai-lai (Kuan Ting-Liu). Father and son live in poverty, as Tai-lai is only a waiter and the sole provider. While skimping on clothes, gas, and everything else needed, the father hopes to save enough money to...

Taiwanese family drama ‘Old Fox’ won the most awards on the night.

China-set drama Stonewalling, directed by husband-and-wife team Huang Ji and Ryuji Otsuka, won best narrative feature at the 60th Golden Horse Awards in Taiwan on Saturday (November 25).

Taiwanese family drama Old Fox won the most awards on the night, including best director for Hsiao Ya-chuan, best supporting actor for veteran Akio Chen, makeup and costume design, and best film score.

Scroll down for full list of winners

Mainland Chinese director Huang and Japan’s Otsuka were in attendance at Taipei’s National Dr Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall to...

The husband and wife team of Otsuka Ryuji and Huang Ji, who worked with a minimalist crew and mostly non-professional actors, gave a round of thanks to Asian leading auteurs for inspiring them, and then hugged each other on stage for winning the Taipei Golden Horse Film Awards best narrative feature prize with their pregnancy drama “Stonewalling.”

The numerical winner on Saturday night was “Old Fox,” which earned the best director award for Hsiao Ya-chuan, as well as the best supporting actor, makeup and costume, and best film score prizes.

The nominations, announced in October, saw “Snow in Midsummer” collect nine nominations and Taiwan’s Oscar contender “Marry My Dead Body” head the field with eight. They were narrowly ahead of a further cluster of films with seven nominations each, including “Abang Adik,” “Old Fox,” “Trouble Girl” and “The Pig, the Snake and the Pigeon.”

On the evening, “Marry My Dead Body...

China-set drama Stonewalling, co-directed by husband-and-wife team Ryuji Otsuka and Huang Ji, won best narrative feature at Taiwan’s Golden Horse Awards, which is celebrating its 60th edition this year.

The film, which premiered in Venice and won best film at Hong Kong film festival’s Young Cinema Competition, follows a young woman in mainland China grappling with issues around career, relationships, health and fertility. It also won best editing, which was shared by Otsuka and Taiwan’s Liao Ching-sung, with the latter winning his first Golden Horse award after 12 nominations stretching back four decades.

The awards were evenly spread among the nominated films. Taiwan’s Wu Kang-ren won best leading actor for his role as a deaf-mute in Malaysian drama Abang Adik. Best actress went to 12-year-old Audrey Lin for her role in Trouble Girl, making her the youngest ever best actress winner at the Golden Horse awards.

Best...

‘’Eye Of The Storm’ and ‘Marry My Dead Body’ also secure several nods.

Chong Keat-aun’s historical epic Snow In Midsummer leads the nominations for the 60th Golden Horse Awards in Taiwan, scoring nine nods including best film and best director.

Lin Chun-yang’s Sars drama Eye Of The Storm and Cheng Wei-hao’s ghost comedy Marry My Dead Body are close behind with eight nominations apiece.

Each will compete in the best film category along with Stonewalling by husband-and-wife team Huang Ji from mainland China and Ryuji Otsuka from Japan, and Time Still Turns The Pages, the feature debut...