Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival and Network for Promotion of Asian Cinema today announced Fly Me to the Moon as the NETPAC Award winner this year. Fifteen cinephiles gave Observation Missions for Asian Cinema Award to The Mountain Is Coming.

（Left）2023 NETPAC Award winner：《Fly Me to the Moon》by Sasha Chuk

（Right）2023 NETPAC jury：Korean programmer Ji-hoon Jo, curator Huei-Yin Chen, Swiss programmer Loïc Valceschini

To promote Asian cinema, Network for Promotion of Asia Cinema has been presenting NETPAC Award at more than 30 film festivals, and Golden Horse joined in 2007. Nominees this year include Time Still Turns the Pages, Fly Me to the Moon, Abang Adik, Dreaming & Dying, Trouble Girl, The Mountain Is Coming, A Tour Guide, Guras, Solids by the Seashore, In My Mother's Skin, and After the Fever. The three-member jury, including Korean programmer Ji-hoon Jo, Swiss programmer Loïc Valceschini, and curator Huei-Yin Chen, chose Fly Me to the Moon by Sasha Chuk to win NETPAC Award this year. The film was praised for ambitious production and narrative levels. Through a migrant, it offered an unconventional view to Hong Kong history, cleverly approached “sense of belonging” in multiple layers, and delivered outstanding and emotional collages. In the acceptance remark, Sasha Chuk was grateful to her executive producer, the jury, and  Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival.

（Left）Directors of 2023 NETPAC Award nominees

（Right）Observation Missions for Asian Cinema Award: The Mountain Is Coming by Jie Sun  

Observation Missions for Asian Cinema, including 15 cinephiles from various backgrounds, also finished all 11 nominated films. After multiple rounds of deliberations, The Mountain Is Coming was selected for its sophisticated, interconnecting, and humorous storyline. Through “The Mountain” (a man that never arrived), it unveiled all kinds of absurdity in a dwindling Chinese town.

Due to itinerary changes, a friend of director Jie Sun (The Mountain Is Coming) accepted the award on his behalf, and expressed gratitude to the jury, Observation Missions for Asian Cinema, and the audience.