Tear-jerking box-office hit set for mainland release

A box-office hit that has broken Taiwan's record for the highest-grossing local film — previously held by Cape No. 7 for 18 years — Sunshine Women's Choir is scheduled to open on the Chinese mainland on Saturday.

The film begins with a baby girl born in a women's prison. Her mother, played by Ivy Chen, hopes to care for her until she turns 3, when the child must be entrusted to an outside nursery before being adopted. However, when a medical check reveals a slight cataract in the girl's eye, she has to be sent out sooner for surgery.

To make the parting more meaningful for her music-loving daughter, the mother fights to form a choir inside the prison and turns to her fellow inmates for help. As the story unfolds, the painful pasts of the women come to light — from domestic violence to tragic acts of despair — each revealing the burdens they carry behind bars.

During a promotional event held in Beijing earlier this week, director Gavin Lin, along with actresses Chen, Judy Ongg, and Chung Hsin-ling, listened attentively to responses from local audiences.

When a female audience member striving for her career alone in the capital stood up to share that she is usually not good with words but, after the film, felt overwhelmed with longing for her mother back home, Ongg offered comfort and gave her a warm hug.

"I hope this film allows audiences to let go of their emotional barriers, to reconnect with their regrets, and to have a heartfelt connection once again with everyone they truly love," said director Lin, whose best-known previous film was the 2018 romance More Than Blue, which grossed over 950 million yuan ($138.2 million) during its release on the Chinese mainland in March 2019.