Lou Yi-an’s ‘Goddamned Asura’ to represent Taiwan at the 2023 Oscars

Director Lou Yi-an’s Goddamned Asura will vie for the Best International Feature film honour at the 95th Academy Awards next year, also known as the Oscars.

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The social psychological drama feature was confirmed to enter the Oscars 2023 race yesterday (August 15), as announced by the Bureau of Audiovisual and Music Industry Development ROC Ministry of Culture, which was later confirmed by a press release.

The movie revolves around a random shooting incident in a night market, resulting in six individuals being forced to face their fears and weaknesses to get through moral dilemmas. It also reflects Buddhism’s six realms of reincarnations, as represented by each of the characters.

Watch the trailer for Goddamned Asura below.

Initially released in Taiwan cinemas last March, the project stars Joseph Huang, Morning Mo, Peijia Huang, Devin Pan, Wang Yu-Xuan and Hao-zhe Lai. The film received multiple awards in several award-giving bodies, like Best Supporting Actress at Golden Horse Awards as well as Best Screenplay, Best Supporting Actress and Best Music at Taipei Film Awards this year.

Goddamned Asura is Lou’s third feature film, following A Place of One’s Own in 2009 and White Lies, Black Lies in 2013.

While Goddamned Asura has been selected as Taiwan’s official submission for the Oscars, there is no guarantee that the film will be nominated for any awards. The last Taiwanese film to be nominated for an Oscar was 2001’s martial arts epic, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

More countries are slowly beginning to unveil their Oscar submissions for next year’s event. South Korea most recently announced that Park Chan-wook’s crime drama film Decision To Leave has been selected to represent South Korea in the Best International Feature Film category.

Currently, other nominations for the Best International Feature category include Ireland’s The Quiet Girl and Switzerland’s A Piece of Sky, per AwardsWatch.

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