Wu Ke-xi wins Best Actress at HKIFF
23 Apr - Taiwanese actress Wu Ke-xi has recently been named Best Actress at the Hong Kong International Film Festival.
The actress won the Firebird Award for Best Actress on 20 April for her performance in "Blue Sun Palace", which revolves around migrants living in Queens, New York.
Wu, who wasn't able to attend the event due to work obligations in the US, dedicated the award to all who live and work in a foreign country.
"You are not alone," she said. "All the suffering or pain will pass, and become nutrients for you to become a better self."
The judges' reason for the award was that it was a story about the ideals of a group of people living in a foreign land.
"They brought to life the vicissitudes, powerlessness and wandering of the shared destiny of immigrants, allowing the audience to be more deeply immersed in a world where women are oppressed by reality. Wu's smart performances in the film are indispensable and won unanimous recognition from the judges."
This marks Wu's first award at the Hong Kong International Film Festival.
(Photo Source: Wu Ke-xi IG, IMDb)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
Wu-Tang Clan: Rise of the Deciever Debuts at Summer Game Fest 2025
In what might have been the most shocking announcement during Summer Game Fest 2025, players are asked to save the iconic rappers in Wu-Tang Clan: Rise of the Deciever. During the announcement trailer, players were called upon by Ghostface Killah to save his brothers—the members of the Wu-Tang Clan who have apparently been kidnapped by the titular Deciever. While not much gameplay was shown, Wu-Tang Clan: Rise of the Deciever looks to be a fast-paced action game heavily inspired by Hip Hop and anime. The game supposedly features Afro-surrealist meets anime-inspired worlds of Shaolin and the Medium, increasingly difficult battle Chambers with fantastical enemies, customization to show off your drip and tailor your fighting style, fully supported three-player co-op with a social hub, and the ability to fight with the powers of the Wu-Tang Clan. Wu-Tang Clan: Rise of the Deciever will also feature a dynamic gameplay soundtrack, including classic Wu-Tang songs and new material, overseen by legendary producer Just Blaze. According to a press release, Wu-Tang Clan: Rise of the Deciever began life as a tie-in to the movie Angel of Dust being which is being worked on by Ghostface Killah and RZA.'Creating Angel of Dust has been an incredible journey,' said Ghostface Killah in a statement. 'Bringing the story to life through film was just the beginning. Now, with the development of the video game, we are immersing fans even deeper into this supernatural thriller universe. Ghostface Killah added, 'It's about blending music, storytelling, and interactive experience. I can't wait for fans to step into the darkness and discover what lies beneath.' No release date was set for Wu-Tang Clan: Rise of the Deciever.
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Yahoo
'80s Sitcom Legend, 66, Is Unrecognizable in Super Rare Outing
Julie Brown—an '80s sitcom star who appeared in Happy Days, Laverne and Shirley, The Jeffersons and more—was unrecognizable during a recent, rare outing. On Wednesday, May 21, Brown, 66, was photographed during a casual stroll in Los Angeles. 🎬 SIGN UP for Parade's Daily newsletter to get the latest pop culture news & celebrity interviews delivered right to your inbox 🎬 For the occasion, the former MTV star wore a black jacket over a navy blue shirt, pairing the look with gray leggings and a pair of sneakers. She also had a pair of sunglasses resting on top of her dressed-down look was a major departure from her '80s and '90s heyday. From 1989 to 1992, the actress starred in the MTV music video comedy show Just Say Julie—typically sporting signature big hair and eye-catching outfits. However, her signature red hair has remained. Additionally, Brown was known for appearing in films like Clueless (1995) and Earth Girls Are Easy (1988) and lending her voice to movies and TV shows like A Goofy Movie, Pinky and the Brain, and Aladdin and The Edge, among many others. Per IMDb, Brown has two upcoming credits—in a TV series called Thank You Come Again and in a TV movie titled Alien Vacation. Next: '80s Sitcom Legend, 66, Is Unrecognizable in Super Rare Outing first appeared on Parade on May 24, 2025
UPI
13 hours ago
- UPI
'Eternal Queen of Asian Pop' sings last encore from beyond the grave
To the delight of millions of fans of the late Teresa Teng, the track titled 'Love Songs Are Best in the Foggy Night' will appear on an album to be released June 25. Photo by Van3ssa_/ Pixabay Several years ago, an employee at Universal Music came across a cassette tape in a Tokyo warehouse while sorting through archival materials. On it was a recording by the late Taiwanese pop star Teresa Teng that had never been released. The pop ballad, likely recorded in the mid-1980s while Teng was living and performing in Japan, was a collaboration between composer Takashi Miki and lyricist Toyohisa Araki. Now, to the delight of her millions of fans, the track titled "Love Songs Are Best in the Foggy Night" will appear on an album to be released June 25. Teng died 30 years ago. Most Americans know little about her life and her body of work. Yet, the ballads of Teng, who could sing in Mandarin, Cantonese, Japanese and Indonesian, continue to echo through karaoke rooms, on Spotify playlists, at tribute concerts and at family gatherings across Asia and beyond. I study how pop music has served as a tool of soft power, and I've spent the past several years researching Teng's music and its legacy. I've found that Teng's influence endures not just because of her voice, but also because her music transcends Asia's political fault lines. From local star to Asian icon Born in 1953 in Yunlin, Taiwan, Teresa Teng grew up in one of the many villages that were built to house soldiers and their families who had fled mainland China in 1949 after the communists claimed victory in the Chinese civil war. Her early exposure to traditional Chinese music and opera laid the foundation for her singing career. By age 6, she was taking voice lessons. She soon began winning local singing competitions. "It wasn't adults who wanted me to sing," Teng wrote in her memoir. "I wanted to sing. As long as I could sing, I was happy." At 14, Teng dropped out of high school to focus entirely on music, signing with the local label Yeu Jow Records. Soon thereafter, she released her first album, Fengyang Flower Drum. In the 1970s, she toured and recorded across Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan and Southeast Asia, becoming one of Asia's first truly transnational pop stars. Teng's career flourished in the late 1970s and 1980s. She released some of her most iconic tracks, such as her covers of Chinese singer Zhou Xuan's 1937 hit, "When Will You Return?" and Taiwanese singer Chen Fen-lan's "The Moon Represents My Heart," and toured widely across Asia, sparking what came to be known as "Teresa Teng Fever." In the early 1990s, Teng was forced to stop performing for health reasons. She died suddenly of an asthma attack on May 8, 1995, while on vacation in Chiang Mai, Thailand, at age 42. China catches Teng Fever Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of Teng's story is that Teng Fever peaked in China. Teng was ethnically Chinese, with ancestral roots in China's Shandong province. But the political divide between China and Taiwan following the Chinese civil war had led to decades of hostility, with each side refusing to recognize the legitimacy of the other. During the late 1970s and 1980s, however, China began to relax its political control under Deng Xiaoping's Reform and Opening Up policy. This sweeping initiative shifted China toward a market-oriented economy, encouraged foreign trade and investment, and cautiously reintroduced global cultural influences after decades of isolation. Pop music from other parts of the world began trickling in, including Teng's tender ballads. Her songs could be heard in coastal provinces such as Guangdong and Shanghai, inland cities such as Beijing and Tianjin, and even remote regions such as Tibet. Shanghai's propaganda department wrote an internal memo in 1980 noting that her music had spread to the city's public parks, restaurants, nursing homes and wedding halls. Teng's immense popularity in China was no accident. It reflected a time in the country's history when its people were particularly eager for emotionally resonant art after decades of cultural propaganda and censorship. For a society that had been awash in rote, revolutionary songs like "The East is Red" and "Union is Strength," Teng's music offered something entirely different. It was personal, tender and deeply human. Her gentle, approachable style -- often described as "angelic" or like that of "a girl next door" -- provided solace and a sense of intimacy that had long been absent from public life. Teng's music was also admired for her ability to bridge eras. Her 1983 album, Light Exquisite Feeling, fused classical Chinese poetry with contemporary Western pop melodies, showcasing her gift for blending the traditional and the modern. It cemented her reputation not just as a pop star but as a cultural innovator. It's no secret why audiences across China and Asia were so deeply drawn to her and her music. She was fluent in multiple languages; she was elegant but humble, polite and relatable, she was involved in various charities, and she spoke out in support of democratic values. A sound of home in distant lands Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, the Chinese immigrant population in the United States grew to over 1.1 million. Teng's music has also deeply embedded itself within Chinese diasporic communities across the country. In cities such as Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York, Chinese immigrants played her music at family gatherings, during holidays and at community events. Walk through any Chinatown during Lunar New Year and you're bound to hear her voice wafting through the streets. For younger Chinese Americans and even non-Chinese audiences, Teng's music has become a window into Chinese culture. When I was studying in the United States, I often met Asian American students who belted out her songs at karaoke nights or during cultural festivals. Many had grown up hearing her music through their parents' playlists or local community celebrations. The release of her recently discovered song is a reminder that some voices do not fade -- they evolve, migrate and live on in the hearts of people scattered across the world. In an age when global politics drive different cultures apart, Teng's enduring appeal reminds us of something quieter yet more lasting: the power of voice to transmit emotion across time and space, the way a melody can build a bridge between continents and generations. I recently rewatched the YouTube video for Teng's iconic 1977 ballad, "The Moon Represents My Heart." As I read the comments section, one perfectly encapsulated what I had discovered about Teresa Teng in my own research: "Teng's music opened a window to a culture I never knew I needed." Xianda Huang is a doctoral student in Asian Languages and Cultures at the University of California-Los Angeles. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. The views and opinions in this commentary are solely those of the author.
