Taiwan’s Ministry of Culture announced on August 18, 2026, that A Foggy Tale, directed by Chen Yu-hsun, will represent the country in the Best International Feature Film category at the 99th Academy Awards. The film was chosen from seven Taiwanese titles submitted for consideration this year, and it now moves forward to compete in the wider international race ahead of next year’s ceremony.
A Foggy Tale, known in Chinese as Da Meng, has become one of the most talked-about Taiwanese films in recent memory. Released in November 2025, it tells the story of a young girl who travels from her home in the south to northern Taiwan to retrieve the body of her brother, who has been executed. Along the way, she is helped by a former soldier, and the two form an unlikely bond as they try to raise the money needed to bring her brother home.
The film is set during Taiwan’s White Terror era, a long period of political repression that lasted from 1949 to 1992. During this long and difficult time, many ordinary people were arrested, imprisoned or executed under martial law. For readers unfamiliar with this history, the era remains one of the most sensitive chapters in modern Taiwanese memory.
According to Taiwan’s Ministry of Culture, the film’s title works as a metaphor for the fog of uncertainty that ordinary citizens lived through during those years, never quite sure what the future held.
The selection committee praised A Foggy Tale for its vivid characters, smooth storytelling and portrayal of everyday people living through a difficult period in Taiwan’s history. Much of the dialogue is spoken in Taiwanese Hokkien, with some scenes in Mandarin, giving the film a distinct local voice.
Domestically, A Foggy Tale has performed strongly at the box office. As of July 2026, it had earned more than NT$1.192 billion, or roughly US$36.9 million, and drawn more than 4.4 million moviegoers across Taiwan’s theaters. That success was matched by recognition at the 62nd Golden Horse Awards, where the film won four prizes, including Best Narrative Feature and Best Original Screenplay for Chen Yu-hsun. It also took home awards for Best Makeup and Costume Design and Best Art Direction.
Beyond Taiwan, the film has already reached international audiences. It played in the main competition section of the Udine Far East Film Festival in Italy and has screened at the Hong Kong International Film Festival, the San Diego Asian Film Festival and the Singapore Chinese Film Festival, building a growing profile among overseas viewers and festival programmers.
The film now joins dozens of other national entries from around the world in the Best International Feature Film race. From this group, the Academy will narrow the field to a shortlist later in the awards season before announcing the final nominees. Only a small number of films make that final cut each year.
Chen Yu-hsun, born in Taipei in 1962, is known for earlier works including Zone Pro Site: The Moveable Feast and My Missing Valentine, which won him a previous Golden Horse Award for Best Original Screenplay. With A Foggy Tale, he adds another significant credit to a career that has consistently combined popular storytelling with attention to Taiwan’s social and historical texture.
As it enters the Oscar race, A Foggy Tale carries with it strong domestic support, a substantial haul of Golden Horse honors and a growing international festival presence. Whether that combination is enough to carry the film onto the Academy’s official shortlist will become clearer in the months ahead, as the 99th Academy Awards approach on March 14, 2027.
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