Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival and Network for Promotion of Asian Cinema today announced Montages of a Modern Motherhood as the NETPAC Award winner this year, while ten cinephiles gave the Observation Missions for Asian Cinema Award to Happyend.

To promote Asian cinema, Network for Promotion of Asian Cinema presents NETPAC Award at over 30 film festivals. Golden Horse joined in 2007. Nominations this year include Happyend, Tale of the Land, The Tenants, Don’t Cry, Butterfly, Regretfully at Dawn, MA - Cry of Silence, Some Rain Must Fall, Three Castrated Goats, Mongrel, Blossoms Under Somewhere, and Montages of a Modern Motherhood. The three-member jury is composed of Wafa Ghermani (film scholar and programmer from France), Ernest Chan (film critic from Hong Kong), and Allen Hong (film journalist from Taiwan).

After deliberations, NETPAC Award this year went to Montages of a Modern Motherhood by Oliver Chan. “The film takes a private and gender politics view to approach contemporary motherhood without reservation. Protagonists go through all kinds of hardships and gruesome challenges, but the filmmaker comforts every exhausted soul with a gentle perspective,” the jury commented. Two leading actors, Hedwig Tam and Lo Chun Yip, attended the ceremony to receive the award on behalf of the director. Lo expressed gratitude to Golden Horse and the jury, and highlighted how difficult it was to tell a female-centered story like this in Asia. He was glad to complete this film with the director. Tam said she did not prepare at all for this honor. She thanked viewers who loved the story, and urged everyone to recommend the film to others.

This year, the "Observation Mission for Asian Cinema" is composed of 10 cinephiles from various backgrounds. After watching 11 nominated films and a lengthy discussion and debate, Happyend is selected for the award. The jury appreciates how the film criticizes authoritarianism and praises youth. The film precisely captures multiple sparkles and inspirations. The still images that appear at the beginning and the end represent magic hours in films. Director Neo Sora was surprised and honored to receive the award. With this honor, he would like to pay tribute to the young and to all rebellious souls in the world.