Heavy Craving
Heavy Craving (大餓; Da e) is a 2019 Taiwanese drama film directed and written by Hsieh Pei-ju (謝沛如) as her feature debut. It follows Jiang Ying-juan, a 30-year-old cook weighing 105 kilograms who works at her mother's childcare center in Taipei and, encouraged by a deliveryman she befriends, resolves to lose weight.1 • 2
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Original title | 大餓 (Da e), Mandarin, Taiwan, 20192 |
| Director and writer | Hsieh Pei-ju, her first feature film1 |
| Runtime and rating | 89 minutes (some festival catalogs list 90), color, DCP3 |
| Lead cast | Tsai Jia-yin as Jiang Ying-juan, Samantha Ko as her mother, Yao Chang as Wu, Chang En-wei as Xiao Yu4 |
| Principal awards | Best New Talent and Audience Choice Award at the 21st Taipei Film Festival; FIPRESCI Prize at the 56th Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival1 |
| Taiwan release | November 15, 20192 |
| Production | While Films Ltd. and Sunshine and Moonlight Co.; producers Jing Wang and E.N. Lee5 |
Spoilers
Plot
Jiang Ying-juan (姜映娟), nicknamed the "dinosaur teacher" by the children, is a talented cook at the after-school childcare center run by her demanding mother, Ms. Lin. Her cooking brings her a sense of achievement, but her body draws constant comment: her mother urges her to diet, neighbors gossip, and even strangers on the bus complain about the space she takes.3 A chance encounter with Wu (吳浩仁), a cheerful deliveryman who hides a troubled past behind his smile, inspires her to begin dieting for the first time.1
She also discovers the secret of Xiao Yu, a model student in her class, and the two form a close cross-generational friendship; the boy's mother treats his cross-dressing as a disease to be cured.3 • 6 As the dieting pressure mounts, Ying-juan's passion for cooking begins to fade and she is pushed toward a breakdown, a turn the film uses to argue that people should not be judged by their appearance.1 • 6 The Taipei Times review described the film as a thoughtful social commentary on being oneself while fitting social expectations, carried by Tsai Jia-yin's performance in her full-length debut.6
Origin and development
Hsieh Pei-ju earned a BFA in motion picture at National Taiwan University of Arts and an MFA in film directing at Columbia University; she directed a segment of the anthology Ten Years Taiwan before this film.5 • 7 She adapted the screenplay from her own experience: in interviews she described gaining weight during adolescence, when family work schedules pushed dinner late and her appetite grew, at one point eating five pieces of fried chicken in a single meal.8 The title reflects the film's central idea, that to satisfy a psychological hunger the character must endure physical hunger.8
The project passed through several development platforms: it won the HAF Script Development Fund in 2016, was selected for the Berlinale Talents Script Station in 2016, was a semifinalist for the Sundance International Screenwriters Lab in 2017, and took part in Produire au Sud Taipei and Golden Horse WIP.9 • 5 A 2017 project dossier from the Produire au Sud workshop listed a budget of €725,964 with €132,440 in place, shooting planned for spring 2018 in Taipei, and completion expected in June 2019.9 In the dossier the lead character was described as 35 years old; released-film materials give her age as 30.9 • 1
Cast and crew
Tsai Jia-yin (蔡嘉茵), making her first leading film role after working in theater, plays Ying-juan; Samantha Ko (柯淑勤) plays her mother, Yao Chang (張耀仁) plays Wu, Lene Lai plays Lynn, Hsieh Tsu-wu plays Allen, and Chang En-wei (張恩瑋) plays Xiao Yu.4 • 3 The crew includes cinematographer Hao-Jan Chang, editor A-Bo Chen, and composer Hung Tao Lin.5
Release and reception
The film premiered internationally in the A Window on Asian Cinema section of the 2019 Busan International Film Festival and opened in Taiwanese theaters on November 15, 2019.1 • 2 It screened as the North American premiere at the Taiwan Biennial Film Festival at UCLA in October 2019 and opened the Taiwan Film Showcase at the San Diego Asian Film Festival that November.10 • 11 Further festival appearances included the Five Flavours Asian Film Festival in Poland and the Hong Kong Asian Film Festival.5
Awards. At the 21st Taipei Film Festival it won Best New Talent for Tsai Jia-yin and the Audience Choice Award in the International New Talent Competition, with a nomination for Best Costume Design.1 • 7 Tsai was also nominated for Best New Actor at the 2019 Golden Horse Awards, where the film won the FIPRESCI (international critics) Prize.3 The Taiwan Film Critics Society gave it awards for best actress and best screenplay, and it won Best Performance at the 2020 Vancouver International Women in Film Festival.12 • 5 On IMDb it holds a rating of 6.4 out of 10 from about 225 users.2
References
- Heavy Craving, Taiwan Cinema (Taiwan Film and Image Information Office)
- Heavy Craving (2019), IMDb
- 大餓 Heavy Craving, Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival archive
- Heavy Craving (2019) full cast and crew, IMDb
- Heavy Craving, Rediance Films
- Movie review: Heavy Craving, Taipei Times, November 21, 2019
- Heavy Craving, Five Flavours Asian Film Festival 2019
- 專訪電影《大餓》：為了減肥，你願付出多少代價？, Common Health Magazine, October 9, 2019
- Heavy Craving (大餓) project dossier, Produire au Sud Taipei workshop 2017
- Screening Oct 18-20: Taiwan Biennial Film Festival 2019, Taiwan Academy in Los Angeles
- Taiwan Film Showcase at San Diego Asian Film Festival, Taiwan Academy in Los Angeles
- 大餓 Heavy Craving, LiTV streaming page with award record
Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Comedy and romantic films (individual works) › Comedies of 2019 to 2020 › Released in 2019
Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026
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