The award-winning Taiwanese film Touch of the Light (逆光飛翔) received applause from a full house in Tokyo on Wednesday after a screening that was part of a government initiative to promote Taiwanese culture abroad.
The film was screened at the 500-seat Iino Hall and was followed by a piano performance by actor and musician Huang Yu-hsiang (黃裕翔).
Touch of the Light is about a blind pianist who leaves home to attend university, and a friendship that develops between him and a girl who dreams of becoming a dancer.
The film was inspired by Huang’s own life story and was selected as Taiwan’s entry for Best Foreign Language Film at the 85th Academy Awards last year.
At the event, Huang shared with the audience his experiences in Japan last year, when he put on a series of performances for people affected by the March 11, 2011, earthquake and tsunami.
He said he hoped that his music encouraged the people and gave them confidence.
Taiwan’s representative to Japan, Shen Ssu-tsun (沈斯淳), was among the guests at the event, which was jointly organized by Taiwan’s Ministry of Culture and Japan’s Yomiuri NTV Culture Center as part of the “Spotlight Taiwan Project.”
As part of the project, the ministry collaborates with universities and institutes around the world to promote Taiwanese culture abroad.
In addition to film screenings and art shows planned to run from April to September, the ministry and the Japanese center is also organizing 20 lectures on topics including calligraphy, Taiwanese food and a presentation of exhibitions at the National Palace Museum.
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