Due to COVID-19 outbreak, the 23rd edition of 2021 Taipei Film Festival originally scheduled between June 24 to July 10 will be postponed to take place between Sep.23rd to Oct. 7th.

Considering the pandemic development in Taiwan, putting the audience and filmmakers’ health and safety as first priority, also considering each venue’s availability, the screenings of the festival will be postponed to Sep. 23rd to Oct. 7th at Vie Show Cinemas Taipei Hsin Yi, Vie Show Cinemas Taipei Qsquare, and SPOT Huashan Cinemas. We shall announce the list of winners of this year’s International New Talent Competition on Sep. 28th, and the date and venue of this year’s Taipei Film Awards Ceremony will be announced as soon as it is confirmed.

Taipei Film Festival will closely follow the development of the pandemic, and carefully follow the latest epidemic prevention measures and guidelines released by the government.

Veteran film producer LI Ya-mei has been named the new Director of Taipei Film Festival, taking over from SHEN Ko-shang, who stepped down from the role after two years of service. With her wealth of industry experience within the industrial, frequently working as a consultant to the public sectors and many year’s teaching credentials at various universities plus her professional knowledge of film festivals, production and marketing, Li is expected to build on Taipei Film Festival’s solid foundations laid down over the past 20 years.

Taipei Film Festival Appoints LI Ya-Mei as New Festival Director

LI Ya-mei previously served as the Deputy Secretary General of the Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival and lecturers film-related courses at various universities. Through marketing and distributing dozens of domestic films over the years, she has accumulated considerable practical experience and gained deep insights into the Taiwan film industry. As Taipei Film Festival enters its 21st year, Li will lead the way in continuing to encourage innovative, cutting-edge works and providing a bridge that links filmmakers, industry and audiences. Taipei Film Festival hopes to become an important platform for international film communities to get to know Taiwan cinema, and a platform through which Taiwanese film audiences can look to and connect with the rest of the world.

SHEN Ko-shang officially commenced his role as Director of Taipei Film Festival in September 2016, successfully completing his mission of guiding Taipei Film Festival through its 19th edition and landmark 20th anniversary. He put the focus back on the building connection with Asian cinema, helping Taipei Film Festival establish a firm footing in Asia while paving a path toward the international market. He also launched the festival’s new “In Progress” strand, which not only allowed audiences to get closer to the various elements of the film production process through creating and fostering discussion on site, but also explored the developmental potential of mutual influence between technology and film. After devoting himself wholeheartedly to the festival for the past two years, Shen made the difficult decision to step down as Director in order to return to his filmmaking career.

The 21st Taipei Film Festival will be held from June 27th to July 13th, 2019. Submissions to two main competitions: International New Talent Competition and Taipei Film Awards will start from mid January, 2019.

Taipei Film Festival Announcement (Updated July 10 11:30)

Due to Typhoon Maria and the announcement from Taipei City Government for office closure after 4pm today (10th), the screenings and events are amended as below-

2018 Taipei Film Festival-July 10 screening changes and cancellations-

In accordance with Taipei City Government’s announcement, all screenings starting after 16:01 at all venues (including Taipei Zhongshan Hall, VR Cinema 1 to 3, Shin Kong Cinemas and Spot-Huashan) are cancelled. Ticket holders may return tickets for a full refund.

For screening changes and cancellations on July 10 (TUE) see below. Ticket holders may return tickets for a full refund.

Customer Service: 02-2302-2541 (Office Hours: July 10 –July 14 10:00-20:00)

Returning Tickets and Refunds

On July 12 and July 13, ticket holders may return the tickets at festival counters with original tickets. Office Hours at all venues are listed below-

For ticket holders living outside Taipei city, please mail the tickets via regular post before July 16 (depending on the post mark) for refunding. And provide bank code, bank branch name, account number and account name. Please mail to Taipei Film Festival Ticket Department, 2nd Fl., No. 141, Guangzhou St., Wanhua Dist., Taipei City, 10852, Taiwan

Ticket price and refunding lists

Winners of 2018 Taipei Film Festival (the 20^th TFF) International New Talent Competition were announced on July 3. The jury composed of five members is presided over by film editor LIAO Ching-Song. After four days of intensive viewing and discussion, the jury unanimously agreed to give Grand Prize and a monetary award of NTD 600,000 to director Pedro PINHO’s The Nothing Factory; Special Jury Prize and a monetary award of NTD300,000 went to director Milad ALAMI’s The Charmer; the extremely popular Taiwanese film Dear EX won Audience Choice Award. Festival President Mark LEE Ping Bing presented certificates to members from all the winning crews; he especially thanked the twelve casts and crews for bringing their works to Taipei Film Festival.

The strong lineup of jury this year includes Taiwanese editor LIAO Ching-sung as the Jury President, as well as four other jury members: HAMAGUCHI Ryusuke from Japan (2016 TFF’s Filmmaker in Focus; his Asako I & II was in 2018 Cannes Film Festival’s official competition), TAN Chui Mui from Malaysia, renowned director HO Wi Ding, and Müge DEMIR (programmer of International Film Festival Rotterdam).

According to LIAO Ching-Song, the selected films this year carry both profound meaning and depth. Diverse in their subjects and issues, the films focus on different communities. He even felt inferior to the directors who shine out already with their first or second films. Despite their new-comer status, they represent mature cinematic techniques.

Regarding The Nothing Factory that wins Grand Prize in the International New Talent Competition, director Pedro PINHO could not attend the award ceremony. Actor and composer José SMITH VARGAS received the award on behalf of PINHO, expressing gratitude for the jury’s recognition of the film’s audacity and attempt. He also felt glad about the film being selected along with other outstanding works in the competition; he would bring the award back to Lisbon, Portugal and celebrate with the director and the crew. The jury praises the film as daring and with strong ambition; it invites audiences to share the character’s perspectives with equality; it covers wide-ranging social concepts with a balanced, rational and emotional sensibility.

Danish film The Charmer won Special Jury Prize. In the absence of director Milad ALAMI, actress Soho REZANEJAD received the award instead. Soho REZANEJAD passionately remarked how significant the award meant to the crew and she could not wait to take the award to her country and share with her colleagues. The jury considered The Charmer a well-crafted film showing the talent of a confident director with a good command of script and direction, portraying its sensitive story of immigration without becoming exploitative or over-dramatising.

Co-directed by Mag HSU and Chih-Yen HSU, Dear EX, the film receiving the most votes this year, won Audience Choice Award. Up to July 2, Dear EX remained Top 1 of TFF, ahead of other 11 films in the International New Talent Competition. Mag HSU thanked Taipei Film Festival and the audience’s support, as well as the crew members. She shared a quote from her mentor Hugh K. S. LEE, “We shouldn’t only get the tasks done; we shall make them perfect.” Chih-Yen HSU also thanked Taipei Film Festival for providing such a great platform for film professionals.

Winners of 2018 Taipei Film Festival International New Talent Competition

Grand Prize│The Nothing Factory│Pedro PINHO

Reason of winning: Daring, and with strong ambition, the film invites audiences to share the character’s perspectives with equality. It covers wide-ranging social concepts with a balanced, rational and emotional sensibility.

Special Jury Prize│The Charmer│Milad ALAMI

Reason of winning: A well-crafted film showing the talent of a confident director with a good command of script and direction, portraying its sensitive story of immigration without becoming exploitative or over-dramatising.

Audience Choice Award│Dear EX│Mag HSU, Chih-Yen HSU

The International New Talent Competition at the Taipei Film Festival is the only international competition in Taiwan aimed at discovering new directors. This year, the festival received 553 submissions from across 88 countries in total. The nominated films come from Europe, Asia and America, demonstrating the thriving creative energy around the world. The jury this year will be chaired by the well-known Taiwanese editor LIAO Ching-sung. Jury members include HAMAGUCHI Ryusuke from Japan, TAN Chui Mui from Malaysia, renowned director Ho Wi Ding and programmer of International Film Festival Rotterdam, Müge DEMIR. Five juries will decide the winners of the Grand Prize and the Special Jury Prize, which will be announced at the award ceremony held on 3th July.

LIAO Ching-sung

LIAO Ching-sung is a renowned Taiwanese film editor. In the 1980s, he collaborated with celebrated filmmakers such as HOU Hsiao-hsien, Edward YANG, and WANG Jen to deliver popular classics including The Sandwich Man (1983), Terrorizers (1986), and Dust in the Wind (1986). He has continued to promote Taiwanese cinema internationally through his editing work on acclaimed films such as A City of Sadness (1989) (first Taiwanese film to win the Golden Lion at Venice), Betelnut Beauty (2001) (Best Director, Berlinale), and The Assassin (2015) (Best Director, Cannes). In 2002, he was awarded Best Taiwanese Film Professional of the Year at the Golden Horse Awards.

HAMAGUCHI Ryusuke

HAMAGUCHI Ryusuke is a Japanese film director and screenwriter. Born in 1978, he graduated from the University of Tokyo and the graduate program in film at Tokyo University of the Arts. His graduation film, Passion (2008), was selected for Tokyo Filmex. Voices from the Waves, a three-part documentary he co-directed about the survivors of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, competed at the 2013 Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival. His 2015 film, Happy Hour, earned a special mention for its script at the Locarno Film Festival and won a special jury award at the 2016 Japan Movie Critic Awards. His latest film, ASAKO I&II (2018) premiered at Cannes competition.

TAN Chui Mui

TAN Chui Mui is the first Malaysian filmmaker to win awards in international film festivals, including the Busan International Film Festival, International Film Festival Rotterdam, Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival, and Oberhausen Short Film Festival. She is also the first Malaysian filmmaker invited to the Cannes Cinéfondation Residency. In 2005, she set up Da Huang Pictures and kicked off the Malaysian New Wave. She has also served on the juries of various international film festivals and taught at regional filmmaking workshops such as ASEAN-ROK FLY, Southeast Asian Film Lab, and Makassar SEA Screen Academy. In 2015, she initiated Next New Wave to give burgeoning film talents in Malaysia a platform to learn directly from renowned filmmakers in the region.

HO Wi Ding

HO Wi Ding won the Golden Horse Award for Best New Director with his debut feature film, Pinoy Sunday (2010). The film also received a Special Mention in the International New Talent Competition and the Industry Award for Narrative Feature at the Taipei Film Awards. His 2012 short film, When Yesterday Comes - I Wake Up In A Strange Bed, won Best Short Film at the 14th Taipei Film Awards. His latest feature film is Cities of Last Things (2018).

Müge DEMIR

Müge DEMIR studied Russian in Maastricht and European Studies in Amsterdam. Following her studies, she set up the first projects in Turkey for the Amsterdam-based NGO Press Now to support independent media. Later, she went on to lead projects in the field of culture and online communication. In 2014, she joined International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) to coordinate Brave Talk, special screenings of films that critically address social injustice. In 2016, she joined the programming team at IFFR. She has since been the programmer at IFFR for feature films from Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand. She is also the previewer for feature films from Turkey and Iran, in support of IFFR-programmer Bianca TAAL.

The International New Talent Competition is Taiwan’s only international competition for new directors and is open to international filmmakers with their first or second feature. The nominated films will be screened from June 28 to July 14 at Taipei’s Zhongshan Hall, Shin Kong Cinemas, and SPOT Huashan Cinema. For more information, please visit the Taipei Film Festival’s official website and Facebook fan page. 

The Taipei Film Festival announced the list of selections for the 2018 Taipei Film Awards on May 14^th, with 10 selections for each of the four film categories: Narrative Features, Documentaries, Short Films, and Animations. All 40 selections are in the running for the acting and technical awards as well as the NT$1 million Grand Prize, the Taiwanese film industry’s largest monetary prize. A total of 311 submissions were received this year, including a record-high number of short films and animations. For more than half of the directors of the selected films, this is the first time their work has been a selection of the Taipei Film Awards.

The selections for this year’s Narrative Features section are: The Bold, the Corrupt and the Beautiful and Alifu, the Prince/ss, both of which were released last year; Gatao 2: Rise of The King and The Tag-Along 2, two genre films that have broken NT$100m at the box office; Dear Ex and Xiao Mei, which were also selected for the International New Talent Competition last week; Father to Son, premiered at this year’s International Film Festival Rotterdam and the opening film of this year’s Taipei Film Festival; the visually stunning Mermaid Whispering, which features spectacular underwater shots; Burning Crows, a mesmerising drama interweaving reality and fantasy; and the omnibus film Ten Years Taiwan, co-directed by five filmmakers.  is born out of the original concept of the 2016 Hong Kong Film Awards Best Picture winner, Ten Years. This year’s Narrative Features section features seven directors receiving their first Taipei Film Award selection. Each with its own unique style, the selections demonstrate the rich creativity and imagination of Taiwanese filmmakers.

The Documentaries category features diverse topics and reflecting the current focus of Taiwanese filmmakers and their grasp of these issues. The selections are: Self-Censorship, directed by former Taipei Film Festival Grand Prize winner Kevin H.J. LEE, and director Lulu LU; Midi Z’s 14 Apples, premiered at the Berlin Film Festival’s Forum section; Our Youth in Taiwan and The Edge of Night, two films that explore the political positions and struggles of contemporary Taiwanese youths; Hebron Don’t Die Please!, a record of the discrimination suffered by those on the lowest rungs of society; Path of Destiny, which focuses on a group of indigenous Sikawasay mediums; Shrouding the Clouds focuses on the theme of air pollution; Squid Jigging Fishing Boat, about the lives of fishermen on the seas; The Shepherds, which depicts the conflict between Christians and the Taiwanese LGBT community; and BLOOD AMBER, an exploration of amber miners in Myanmar. Seven directors also receive their first Taiwan Film Award selection in this category. 

In the Shot Films category, CHIANG Wei Liang earned dual selections with Luzon and Nyi May Lay; the former is a minimalistic interpretation of a political parable, while the latter is a metaphorical tale about migrant maids in Singapore. After earning a selection for the narrative feature The Kids in 2015, Sunny YU returns to the Taipei Film Awards this time with the short film 2923, a captivating story about a girl who takes up a job as a prison visitor. TSENG Ying-ting received his third Taipei Film Award selection for Tea Land, a microcosm of the living conditions of migrant workers in Taiwan. 02-06 is a biting satire and critique of Taiwan’s military system; Double Reflection captures the relationship between the individual and the camera, using the lens to view oneself from the perspective of a third person; Return exhibits innovative audiovisual techniques through static image editing, sound design and narration; Spectrum of Nostalgia is the director’s creative journey of self-analysis through viewing her own family photos; Stuck portrays a brief but troubled encounter between teacher and student; and Temporary explores the construction of social relations. Five directors receive their first Taipei Film Award selection in the Short Films category.

For the Animations category, On Happiness Road is the extended version of the 2013 short film of the same title; ST(R)AY is a search for the most important things in life amid the chaos of dementia; Blooming Summer & Autumn Harvest is a story about growing up, dreams, and family; AM I ORIGHT, which uses sound to convey the feelings of loss, growth and transformation in the creative process; Hot Spring is an abstract representation of finding a sense of belonging in society; Hunted is a fluid hand-drawn 2D animation with a cinematic feel; Neon is a perfect integration of music and animation; Our Moon presents a unique aesthetic through 3D animation techniques, character performances and storytelling; Si So Mi is a highly original paper puppetry animation; and Understand? Understood. makes the most of a simple yet striking animation style to portray the touching bond between man and dog. The Animations category has a total of eight directors receiving their first Taipei Film Festival selection. 

All of the selected films will be screened during the Taipei Film Festival period from June 28 to July 12. The Taipei Film Awards ceremony will be held at Taipei Zhongshan Hall on the evening of July 14.

2018 Taipei Film Awards Selected Films

Narrative Features

Alifu, the Prince/ss, dir.   Yulin WANG

The Bold, the Corrupt and the Beautiful, dir. YANG Ya-che

Burning Crows, dir. Leading LEE

Dear EX, dir. Mag HSU/HSUChih-yen

Father to Son, dir. HSIAO Ya-chuan

Gatao 2: Rise of The King, dir. YEN Cheng-kuo

Mermaid Whispering, dir. YUAN Hsu-hu

The Tag-Along 2, dir. Cheng Wei-hao

Ten Years Taiwan, dir. Lekal Sumi Cilangasan/ Rina B. TSOU/ LU Po-shun/ HSIEH Pei-ju/LAU Kek Huat

Xiao Mei, dir. Maren HWANG

Documentaries

14 Apples , dir. Midi Z

BLOOD AMBER, dir. LEE Yong Chao

The Edge of Night, dir. CHIANG Wei-hua

Hebron Don't Die Please!, dir. LIU Han-ni

Our Youth in Taiwan, dir. FU Yue

Path of Destiny, dir. YANG Chun-kai

Self-Censorship, dir. Kevin H.J. LEE, Lulu LU

The Shepherds, dir. Elvis LU

Shrouding the Clouds, dir. CHAN Hao-chung

Squid Jigging Fishing Boat, dir. LU Yu-jui

Short Films

02-06, dir. WANG I-fan

2923, dir. Sunny YU

Double Reflection, dir. WANG Chun-hong

Luzon, dir. CHIANG Wei Liang

Nyi Ma Lay, dir. CHIANG Wei Liang

Return, dir. HUANG Pang-chuan

Spectrum of Nostalgia, dir. CHEN Yi-zhu

Stuck, dir. HUANG Sheng-ming

Tea Land, dir. TSENG Ying-ting

Temporary, dir. HSU Hui-ju

Animations

AM I ORIGHT, dir. CHEN Yen-liang

Blooming Summer & Autumn Harvest, dir. CHI Po-chou

Hot Spring, dir. Amy LIU

Hunted, dir. CHEN Yen-hsun

Neon, dir. PAN Sz-yu

On Happiness Road, dir. SUNG Hsin-yin

Our Moon, dir. YANG Tzu-ting

Si So Mi, dir. ZHANG XU Zhan

ST(R)AY, dir. YAO Chiang

Understand? Understood. , dir. LEE Wen-jin

Taipei Film Festival announces the nominees in the International New Talent Competition on May 8^th. Among the 553 submissions from 88 countries, the final twelve films coming from Taiwan, China, Korea, the Philippines, Greece, Switzerland, Poland, the Netherlands, Germany, Portugal, Denmark, Sweden, Italy and the US are selected. Fully demonstrating the vibrant creative energy of a new generation, these films will compete for the Grand Prize with a cash award of NT$600,000 and the Special Jury Prize with a cash award of NT$300,000, as well as the Audiences Choice Award.

The International New Talent Competition is the only international competition for filmmakers’ first and second features in Taiwan. As an Asian film festival, the Taipei Film Festival raises issues of film aesthetics and subject matters from a unique Taiwanese point of view, and this has not only won the local audience’s trust and cultivate a group of devoted fans but also left a deep impression on the directors who had attended the Festival in Taiwan.

Among the nominated films, five of them will hold their Asian premieres, including Sarah Plays a Werewolf (Switzerland), Beautiful Things (Italy), Holiday (Denmark), Skate Kitchen (US) and Dear Ex (Taiwan) while February (Korean) will have its international premiere at the Taipei Film Festival this year. The recurrent themes appearing in the selected films include the immigration in the time of globalisation and the individual autonomy.

Dear Ex is the first feature film made by the celebrated scriptwriter Mag HSU and the music video director Chih-Yen HSU. In the story, after her husband has died, the heroine learns that he had a boyfriend and finds herself struggling between her teenage son and her late husband’s lover.  

Sarah Plays a Werewolf is Katharina WYSS’ feature debut. Selected for the 2017 Venice International Film Critics' Week, the film describes a teenage girl’s self-doubt and self-harm when she confronts the family’s secrets and looks into the female hysteria.

With a limited budget, new directors Giorgio FERRERO and Federico BIASIN construct Beautiful Things with the structure of music composition and turns the roughness and impromptu in the mundane objects into a powerful march of life. The film was selected for the 2017 Venice Biennale College Cinema.

Hailed as the most provocative film at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival, Holiday is the Swedish director Isabella EKLÖF’s first feature. It tells the complicated relationship between the drug dealer and the girl who pretends to go on holiday but actually works as drug mule. Shadows are cast on the glittering filthy rich paradise as it is controlled by the drug cartel with violence.

Based on the Instagram group “theskatekitchen”, Skate Kitchen is director Crystal MOSELLE’s feature debut after her documentary, Wolfpack, which won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2015 Sundance. Taking a realist approach, Moselle records the statements and reality of the young people in New York.

February, the second feature of the rising Korean director KIM Joong-hyun, won the Vision Director Award and the NETPAC Award for Best Asian Film at the 2017 Busan International Film Festival. The film vividly captures the heroine’s resistance to the social conventions when she plays the various roles in her life, including family, friend and lover.

Directed by Chinese director CAI Chengjie, The Widowed Witch was the winner of the Hivos Tiger Award at the 2018 International Film Festival Rotterdam. Deeply influenced by Emir Kusturica’s Time of the Gypsies, Cai shot the film in his hometown and reveals the destitute that the farming villages face in China today.

Nervous Translation was selected for the 2018 IFFR and the New Directors/New Films Festival. Japanese Filipino director Shireen SENO not only projects herself onto the film but looks back at the Filipino history. Focusing on the father leaving home for work in the 1980s, it tells the story of a girl growing up alone with a childlike and surreal touch.

Selected for the Panorama at the Berlinale and as the opening film of the Hong Kong International Film Festival this year, Xiao Mei pieces together the life of Xiao Mei, a young female a young female outcast, with nine interviews with people around her. CHUNG Mong-hong, a renowned Taiwanese director, served as executive producer and director of photography on this production.

Pity was in competition at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival. Directed by Babis MAKRIDIS, who is often regarded as part of the Greek Weird Wave and written by Efthymis Filippou (The Lobster), Pity is a stinging satire on the pretentious human beings.

Directed by the Danish director Milad ALAMI, The Charmer was selected in the New Directors’ section at the 2017 San Sebastian Film Festival, winning the Fedeora Award from Film Critics Association and was awarded Best Film at the 2017 Warsaw International Film Festival. The film tells the story of an Iranian man, who has been trying every means to find a wife that would allow him to stay in Denmark but accidentally falls in love with an Iranian woman. Born in Iran and raised in Denmark, Alami projects his personal experience onto the story, examining the issues of national identity, the difficulties the immigrants face and the stagnant social mobility.

With The Nothing Factory, Portuguese director Pedro PINHO won the FIPRESCI critics award in the Directors’ Fortnight at the 2017 Cannes. In a documentary style, it shows the conflicts between the factory owner and the workers as well as between the workers. The unexpected musical performed by the workers in the film introduces a new aesthetic into cinema.

The representatives of the nominated films, including directors, producers or actors, will attend the Taipei Film Festival between 28 June and 14 July and share their experience with the audience. The winners will be announced at the award ceremony on 3 July.

2018 Taipei Film Festival International New Talent Competition line-up

Beautiful Things, dir. Giorgio FERRERO, Federico BIASIN, 2017 Italy

The Charmer, dir. Milad ALAMI, 2017 Denmark

Dear Ex, dir. Mag HSU, Chih-Yen HSU, 2018 Taiwan

February, dir. KIM Joonghyun, 2017 South Korea

Holiday, dir. Isabella Isabella EKLÖF, 2018 Denmark, The Netherlands, Sweden

Nervous Translation, dir. Shireen SENO, 2018 Philippines

The Nothing Factory, dir. Pedro PINHO, 2017 Portugal

Pity, dir. Babis MAKRIDIS, 2018 Greece, Poland

Sarah Plays a Werewolf, dir. Katharina WYSS, 2017 Switzerland, Germany

Skate Kitchen, dir. Crystal MOSELLE, 2018 USA

The Widowed Witch, dir. CAI Chengjie, 2018 China

Xiao Mei, dir. Maren HWANG, 2018 Taiwan

Organized by the Bureau of Audiovisual and Music Industry Development, Ministry of Culture, Taiwan, with the support from Bureau Français de Taipei, and held by Taipei Film Festival and Festival des 3 Continents of Nantes, the Produire au Sud Taipei Workshop announces its selected 6 projects for the 2018 edition today. The selected teams will receive professional one-on-one guidance from a panel of international industry experts with long working relation with the Festival des 3 Continents , covering three stages of development focused on the participant’s proposals and scripts. Projects can only be submitted by a team of director and producer with at least one member (either the director or the producer) holding National Identification Card or Alien Resident Certificate of R.O.C.. 17 projects were submitted this year, with the final 6 decided jointly by Taipei Film Festival and Festival des 3 Continents .

The 6 selected proposals are vivid and diverse, including Tropical Blue (first appeared in 2016 Golden Horse Film Project Promotion) exploring self-identity through issues of sexuality and desire in the atmosphere of social repression in the 1970s; For a Better Place penetrating tough lives led by migrant worker from  South-East Asia; Sally starts with transnational romances of elderlies to frauds on dating apps;  The Girl On The Border discussing the reality and difficulties faced by a stateless girl; Who'll Stop the Rain telling love stories in students’ movement in the context of claiming freedom of artistic creation in the Department of Fine Arts of the Chinese Culture University in 1994; Love Lies depicting the delicate relationship among a single mother who makes a living by love fraud, her daughter and her lover. Either responding to the times, exploring the past, or revolving around human nature and feelings, all these projects reflect the filmmakers’ interests and keen observation.

Guillaume Mainguet, the coordinator of the workshop  from the Festival des 3 Continents , particularly pointed out that out of the 12 participants of the 6 selected  teams this year, there are 7 female film professionals and 5 male ones, precisely reflecting the current gender trends in film industry. The selected director/producer duos include HOU Chi-Jan (director of When a Wolf Falls in Love with a Sheep, One Day) and Vicki TSAI (line producer of Ode to Time ); Zune KWOK (director of Downstream nominated for the Best Short Film of the 2013 Golden Horse Film Festival, and ‘Extras’, the first episode of the Hong Kong film Ten Years) and Uilin WANG as producer (himself the director of The Blackout Village, Best Short Film of the 2011 Taipei Film Festival).

Other duos include Dan Chi HUANG (director of Man, Monkey, Mannequin selected into Kaohsiung Shorts, Summer Trifles, h =1/2 gt²) teaming up with Yu Jie HONG (line producer of Days We Stared at the Sun 2, Fist & Faith, Zinnia Flower etc.); Chien-Hung LIEN(director of Their Heaven nominated for Best Television Film of the 2017 Golden Bell Award) and emerging producer Manyin REINERT will also participate in this year's workshop together.

In addition, I-Hsuan SU (director of Where the Sun Don't Shine of the “Life Stories” series of Taiwan Public Television Service in 2018) and Tami XU (producer having worked in the studio of Chinese director Lou Ye) are jointly selected for the workshop. Listed by Variety magazine as one of “The 110 Students to Watch”, the director Ping-Wen WANG whose short films won several awards at home and abroad will develop a project together with Eric, Xiang-Yu XIE, producer of the documentary The Horrible Thirty: Me, My Father and Richard the Tiger.

Complete list of selected projects of 2018 Produire au Sud Taipei Workshop (in alphabetic order of the proposals’ English titles):

The Produire au Sud Taipei Workshop comprises three stages, all of which need to be attended by the selected projects . The first stage runs from July 8 to 13, 2018 and focuses primarily on film proposals and screenplays through a comprehensive workshop that includes one-on-one professional guidance on various aspects covering production through to distribution, as well as pitching technique training. Analyses of international co-production cases will also help the team learn from these experiences. The second stage of the workshop will run from October 30 to November 1, 2018, while the third stage will be held from March 6 to 8, 2019. These latter two stages will focus on following up on and evaluating the projects and scripts from the first stage, with the third stage providing guidance on international sales. The aim is to significantly elevate the completeness of the script and international co-production potential through a half-year period of adjustments.  

The 20^th Taipei Film Festival announces that Father and Son directed by HSIAO Ya-chuan would be its opening film this year. Selected for the 2018 International Film Festival Rotterdam, Father and Son will have its Asian premiere at the TFF. The Festival will close with the world premiere of High Flash directed by CHUANG Ching-shen, starring the 2017 TFF Best Actor and Actress award winners WU Kang-jen and YIN Shin. Both HSIAO Ya-chuan and CHUANG Ching-shen were either nominated or won at the Taipei Film Awards in the previous years and therefore they feel like “coming home” with their latest works.  

 ‘The Taipei Film Festival has always been so supportive for my works.’ – HSIAO Ya-chuan

Father and Son describes how the protagonist looks for his father in Taiwan and Japan and through the search, it reveals the strong and yet ineffable bonding between two generations. Nevertheless, the film is not only about father and son and family but also an allegory of Taiwanese history. HSIAO expresses that both his first feature, Mirror Image, and the second feature, Taipei Exchanges, gained recognition at the Taipei Film Festival and now he feels so happy and honoured that his third film, Father and Son, is chosen as the opening film. A digitally restored version of Mirror Image, which won Best Film of the year at the 2000 Taipei Film Awards is also included in this year’s programme. From HSIAO’s two films made eighteen years apart, the audience could see how HSIAO has evolved in his career as filmmaker.

HSIAO says. ‘I have always wanted to make a film about father and son. In recent years, my relationship with my father has changed a lot.’ HSIAO hopes that while cinema is becoming more and more globalised and the competition between different regions is getting fiercer and fiercer, he could inject new blood into Taiwanese cinema with Father and Son and keep searching for his true self.

‘I feel like I’m coming home.’ -  CHUANG Ching-shen

Selected as the closing film, High Flash is CHUANG's feature debut, starring a strong cast including the winners of the 2017 Taipei Film Award Best Actor and Actress WU Kang-jen and YIN Shin, and other supporting actors such as YAO Yi-ti, CHEN Yi-wen and HSU Chih-fan. In addition, veteran filmmakers Silvia CHANG, LIAO Ching-song and MA Tien-tsung serve as executive producers. High Flash tells the story of the fisherman Ah-Hai, who burns himself to death during a protest. After the tragedy, Ah-Hai becomes a national hero. However, the public prosecutor and the coroner have their suspicions and their investigation eventually discloses the shocking truth behind the incident.

Upon learning that High Flash is selected as the closing film of the TFF, CHUANG feels that he is “coming home” since his first feature short, The Eighteenth Birth Party, was nominated for the Taipei Film Awards. Moreover, the Taipei Film Festival is not only the first film festival CHUANG was invited to but proved to be a turning point in his career. As for having a “political thriller” as his feature debut, CHUANG expresses that he would like to do something new in each project and tries not to repeat what he himself or the others have done.

Organized by the Bureau of Audiovisual and Music Industry Development (Ministry of Culture), co-organized by the Bureau français de Taipei, and implemented by the Festival des 3 Continents and the Taipei Film Festival, the Produire au Sud Taipei Workshop has been a hit with domestic filmmakers since its inauguration in 2015. The fourth workshop will take place this year from July 8 to 13 during the Taipei Film Festival. International senior lecturers selected by the Festival des 3 Continents will pass on their experience and tricks of the trade on all the key aspects of filmmaking, from the screenplay and pitching to international distribution and sales. Apart from continuing last year’s popular three-stage follow-up script evaluations, this year’s workshop will also add international sales guidance at the third stage so that each participating project can be better prepared for the international market. The 2018 Produire au Sud Taipei Workshop begins accepting applications from March 28 (Wednesday). The deadline is May 1 (Tuesday). Interested parties are welcome to attend a once-off information session on April 10 (Tuesday) at 7pm, which will invite former students to introduce the workshop and share their experiences and preparations in submitting an application.

2017 Produire au Sud Taipei Workshop

The Produire au Sud Taipei Workshop has attracted participation from many active filmmakers and emerging directors since it was first held in 2015. In the first workshop, director CHENG Hung-I and producer WEI Ying-chuan’s proposal, The Terrorizers in Love, was completed in 2016 to become the film The Last Painting, which was nominated in the official competition of the Big Screen Award at the 46^th International Film Festival Rotterdam. The proposal of fellow first workshop classmate LAU Kek Huat, A Love to Boluomi Ripe, later renamed A Love of Boluomi, is currently in filming. In 2017, the proposal Heavy Craving took a big stride toward the silver screen when it received a second-stage subsidy from the Ministry of Culture’s Fund for Domestically Produced Motion Pictures, while the project The Blue Sun began to make headway in the international market when it was named an official selection of the IT Project of the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival's 10^th Network of Asian Fantastic Films.

Former participants of the Produire au Sud Taipei Workshop also include directors CHIANG Hsiu-chiung, HSU Chao-jen, SHIH Li, Ming-lang CHEN, John Han-chiang HSU, KO Zhen-nian, as well as producers Aileen LI Yiu-wah, Patrick Mao HUANG, CHANG Chuti, Steven TU, Chen-lin LAI. Students have said that they not only received substantive and comprehensive advice for tackling different types of pitches thanks to the professional knowledge and consultations offered by the workshop, but were also able to re-examine the international potential of their proposals and stories through the viewpoints of the lecturers, helping them to continue making further adjustments. Other students have noted that the one-on-one script consultations aided them in clarifying character and theme blind spots, made them view their story from different cultural perspectives, and also further determined the tone of their script.

The Produire au Sud Taipei Workshop comprises three stages, all of which need to be attended by admitted students. The first stage runs from July 8 to 13, 2018 and focuses primarily on film proposals and screenplays through a comprehensive course that includes one-on-one professional guidance on various aspects covering production through to distribution, as well as pitching technique training. Analyses of international co-production cases will also help students learn from these experiences. The second stage of the workshop will run from October 30 to November 1, 2018, while the third stage will be held from March 6 to 8, 2019. These latter two stages will focus on following up on and evaluating the proposals and scripts from the first stage, with the third stage providing guidance on international sales. The aim is to significantly elevate the completeness of the script and international co-production potential through a half-year period of adjustments.  

The PAS course is conducted in English only. Each application must comprise of a director and producer team. Each team must provide a script and a proposal that are completed or nearly completed. Those who are selected must join each of the course’s three stages. Workshop participants only need to pay the deposit; no tuition fee is required. Now accepting applications. The deadline is May 1. Selected proposals will be announced on May 7.

Festival des 3 Continents has a thirty-year history concentrated on the discovery of unique filmmaking talent from Asia, Latin-America and Africa, and bringing great films from the three continents into France. Filmmakers such as HOU Hsiao-Hsien and JIA Zhangke have been introduced to Europe through the festival before achieving international distinction. Since 2000, the festival has been holding Produire au Sud Workshops (abbr. PAS) which aim to provide knowledge of international cooperation for young filmmakers from the three continents so they can develop more opportunities for international co-production. PAS has also successively cooperated with film festivals in Israel, Thailand, Venezuela and other countries for many years. It has received more than 150 proposals from various countries and its alumni includes Apichatpong Weerasethakul, winner of the Palme d'Or of Cannes Festival. Participants’ films have entered several prominent international festivals such as Cannes, Locarno, and Sundance.

★2018 Produire au Sud Taipei Workshop (Chinese version): https://goo.gl/dUTZUg

★Application page: https://goo.gl/LLV75o

★Apply for April 10 information session: https://goo.gl/forms/u4vTdGJXYiLCLb8J2

★Key Dates of PAS:

Application: March 28 to May 1, 2018

Announcement of selected participants: May 7, 2018

Application for industry day talk: May 7 to 31, 2018

Announcement for participants for industry day talk: June 15, 2018

Workshop’s first stage: July 8 to 13, 2018

Workshop’s second stage: October 30 to November 1, 2018

Workshop’s third stage: March 6 to 8, 2018

The 20^th Taipei Film Festival, set to run from June 28 to July 14, 2018, has announced the jury chairperson for each of its two competitions. The jury chair of the Taipei Film Awards will be festival regular Chinese director LOU Ye, while the jury of the International New Talent Competition will be headed by Hou Hsiao-Hsien’s long-time film editor and producer LIAO Ching-song. Filmmakers from both Taiwan and abroad are invited to make their submissions by March 30^th. For more information, please visit the official Taipei Film Festival website at http://www.taipeiff.taipei/.

2018 Taipei Film Awards Jury Chair : LOU Ye

LOU Ye is recognized and celebrated by international film festivals and audiences alike through films such as Summer Palace (2006), Spring Fever (2009) and Blind Massage (2014). He served on the jury of the Taipei Film Festival International New Talent Competition in 2007 and screened Blind Massage at the Festival in 2014. On being invited to head the jury of the Taipei Film Awards this year, LOU said: “I’m very happy and also very honored to once again work for the Taipei Film Festival. I look forward to seeing many good movies in Taipei.”

2018 International New Talent Competition Jury Chair_LIAO Ching-song

LIAO Ching-song is a long-term collaborator of renowned Taiwanese director HOU Hsiao-hsien. In recent years, he has also worked regularly with upcoming new directors. On being invited to chair the International New Talent Competition, LIAO said: “The new directors of every era are very different. The directors of Taiwan New Cinema focused on literature and were full of aspirations and ideals, while new directors after the turn of the millennium tend to emphasize ideology, using subtle tones to depict emotion, and self-expression. Most new directors now are straightforward and sharp, audacious and confidently righteous. In any case, I look forward to each new director carving out their own path.”

The Taipei Film Awards is a competition exclusive to Taiwanese filmmakers. All films in the four competition categories of Narrative Features, Documentaries, Short Films, and Animations have a chance to compete for the NT$1 million Grand Prize. Many directors have gone from strength to strength after finding success at the Taipei Film Awards.

The International New Talent Competition, Taiwan’s only international competition for first or second feature films by new directors, has excelled at uncovering and introducing exciting new talents from Taiwan and overseas in recent years. For example, the early works of BPM (Beats Per Minute) director Robin Campillo, Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi, and Pop Aye director Kirsten Tan were all former entrants of this competition. The submission deadline for the International New Talent Competition is March 30. Taipei Film Festival will officially announce the films selected for the Competition on May 8. International filmmakers with their first and second time films are invited to submit. Submissions must be at least 70 minutes in length and not yet premiered in Taiwan.

Taipei Film Awards Submission Guidelines (the director must be a citizen of the Republic of China or hold a valid Resident Certificate; any feature-length film submission must be a domestic production): https://goo.gl/521YNj

International New Talent Competition Guidelines and Application Form: https://goo.gl/tL6eQR

With the 20^th Taipei Film Festival scheduled for June 28 to July 14 this year, the 2018 “International New Talent Competition” is open for submissions from January 8 to March 30. The Festival’s program team will select a total of 10-12 international films, with the final selection to be announced on May 8. New international directors are invited to submit their first or second feature film, which must have a minimum running time of 70 minutes and not previously screened for the public in Taiwan. For more information, please visit Taipei Film Festival website: http://www.taipeiff.taipei/

Founded in 2005, the International New Talent Competition aims to discover and  introduce cutting-edge talent in Taiwanese and international cinema, focusing on the potential of new filmmakers in their structuring, storytelling, grasp of themes, and aesthetic style. Each year, a jury of five international film industry professionals will jointly decide on the “Grand Prize” and “Special Jury Prize” among the selected international films, with the winning directors receiving prize money of NT$600,000 (approximately US$18,000) and NT$300,000 (approximately US$9,000), respectively. In addition, audiences may vote for their favorite film to determine the “Audience Choice Award”. 

The films selected by the International New Talent Competition in 2017 have continued to perform well. The Grand prize winner, The Wound, made the nine-film shortlist for this year’s Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film as the official submission of South Africa. Following its world premiere at Taipei Film Festival, Audience Choice Award winner The Great Buddha+ was also selected for Busan International Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival, and the Palm Springs International Film Festival. The US film Columbus earned nominations at the Chicago Film Critics Association Awards and the Film Independent Spirit Awards. There is also good news on the upcoming projects by directors from last year’s selection. Oliver LAXE, winner of the Special Jury Prize for Mimosa, has received a grant from Eurimages for his new project, A Sun That Never Sets, while last month, HUANG Ji, director of The Foolish Bird, received a Script and Project Development grant from the Hubert Bals Fund of the International Film Festival Rotterdam, further raising anticipation for the work of these up-and-coming international directors.

Winners of 2017 Taipei Film Festival International New Talent Competition

Jury members of the International New Talent Competition over the years have included Golden Lion winner Trần Anh Hùng, Silver Bear winner WANG Xiaoshuai, and the winner of the 2017 Palme d'Or for The Square, Ruben ÖSTLUND. Through the different perspectives and cultural backgrounds of its jury members, Taipei Film Festival hopes to award films with the highest degree of potential and creativity.

The 2017 Taipei Film Festival officially drew to a close on July 15 with the grand Taipei Film Awards ceremony at Taipei’s Zhongshan Hall. Director HUANG Hsin-yao’s The Great Buddha + came away as the biggest winner of the evening, capturing the Grand Prize as well as Best Narrative Feature, Outstanding Artistic Contribution (Editing), Outstanding Artistic Contribution (Music), and Outstanding Artistic Contribution (Art Design) for a total of five awards. HUANG Xi’s Missing Johnny followed closely with four awards, winning Best Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor, Best New Talent, and Outstanding Artistic Contribution (Cinematography). This year’s award for Best Actor went to WU Kang-jen for White Ant, while Shin YIN was named Best Actress for The Island That All Flow By. The Best Director prize was presented to LU Po-shun for Wild Tides, marking the third time in Taipei Film Award history that the award has gone to the director of a short film. 

 The Great Buddha + 

The Grand Prize winner of the Taipei Film Awards was selected from the four winners of the Best Narrative Feature, Best Documentary, Best Short Film, and Best Animation categories. HUANG Hsin-yao, the winner of this year’s Grand Prize for The Great Buddha +, said he felt very fortunate to be honored again with his debut feature after previously taking home the Grand Prize for the documentary Taivalu in 2011. He thanked his entire team for their support and especially producers YEH Jufeng and CHUNG Mong-hong for making this film possible. 

HUANG Hsin-yao, the director of The Great Buddha +

WU Kang-jen’s Best Actor award for White Ant is his first award for a film performance. He repeatedly expressed his astonishment and disbelief when accepting the award and gave special thanks to the film’s director, CHU Hsien-che. Shin YIN took home this year’s Best Actress award for her portrayal of a toll booth operator in The Island That All Flow By. This is the second time she has been recognized by the Taipei Film Awards, having been named Best Supporting Actor for The Will to Power back in 2013. Best Supporting Actor was awarded to HUANG Yuan for Missing Johnny, while Best Supporting Actress went to LIU Yin-shan for Cloudy. At nearly 80 years old, LIU was especially emotional after finally being recognized for her acting following many decades' work. The award for Best New Talent went to Rima Zeidan for her performance in Missing Johnny.

Best Actor & Actress of this year, WU Kang-jen and Shin YIN 

Best Supporting Actor & Actress, HUANG Yuan and LIU Yin-shan

The award for Best Director was presented to LU Po-shun for his work on the short film Wild Tides. He is the third filmmaker to win Best Director for a short film after CHAN Ching-lin for A Breath form the Bottom in 2013 and TSAI Ming-liang for No No Sleep in 2015. The jury noted that LU built a very realistic environment for the actors to perform in, creating a very restrained depiction of the loneliness of rural life in an extremely short space of time. Best Documentary was awarded to Small Talk by HUANG Hui-chen, while Best Short Film went to CHANG Tso-chi’s True Emotion Behind the Wall and Best Animation was won by YANG Yung-shen for Stories About Him.

 LU Po-shun ,winner of Best Director　　Best Documentary Small Talk by HUANG Hui-chen

Best Animation winner, Dicetor YANG Yung-shen for Stories About Him

This year’s Yang Shih-chi Outstanding Contribution Award was presented to recipient JAN Hung-tze by Taipei mayor KO Wen-je . The award affirms YANG’s role in Taiwan New Cinema at its most pivotal time through his drafting the “Taiwan New Cinema Manifesto” and his strong efforts in acquiring resources for Taiwanese filmmakers. The Press Award went to The Road to Mandalay by Midi Z, who not only thanked the media for the recognition but also encouraged anyone who wants to make movies to continue filming and learn from mistakes no matter how difficult their environment. The Audience Choice Award was won by CHI Yueh-chun for the prison documentary Condemned Practice Mode. The director said what he wants most out of his film is to create a dialogue with audiences, adding that he hopes viewers can reflect on the necessity of the “presumption of innocence” under the law.

winner of Yang Shih-chi Outstanding Contribution Award, Mr. JAN Hung-tze

The Press Award ,The Road to Mandalay by Midi Z and The Audience Choice Award, director of Condemned Practice Mode

LIN Sheng-xiang, who captured his maiden film award with the Award for Outstanding Artistic Contribution (Music) for The Great Buddha +, revealed that this was his first film soundtrack and the best album he has done in terms of sound recording since he entered the industry 20 years ago. The Great Buddha + also received the Award for Outstanding Artistic Contribution (Art Design), with recipient CHAO Shih-hao giving special thanks to the jury for the recognition.

winners of Award for Outstanding Artistic Contribution (Music & Art Design), LIN Sheng-xiang and CHAO Shih-hao for The Great Buddha +

winners of Best Screenplay and Award for Best New Talent, HUANG Xi  and Rima Zeidan

2017 List of Taipei Film Awards Winners

Grand Prize

The Great Buddha +

Best Narrative Feature

The Great Buddha +

With many years’ experience in documentary, director Huang Hsin-yao brings his signature style to his debut feature, confidently and compassionately dealing with remote village themes that draw the focus away from the big city.

Best Documentary

Small Talk

A powerful depiction of a mother-daughter relationship. The film bravely portrays the most difficult and dark side of human nature through the relationship of three generations of women, with a reconciliation between the mother and daughter that is very moving.

Best Short Film

True Emotion Behind the Wall

The film was produced with very limited resources in a difficult environment and facing many restrictions. The mise-en-scène is nevertheless remarkable.

Best Animation

Stories About Him

The storytelling is full of innovation as the film fully explores its techniques of animation, while still speaking to audiences of all ages.

Best Director

LU Po-shun, Wild Tides

The director constructs a very realistic environment for the actors within a short film that talks, with restraint, about the loneliness of people in a remote village. The aesthetics and the choice of subject clearly show the director’s care for this place.

Best Screenplay

HUANG Xi, Missing Johnny

The script is tightly structured yet full of freedom - a rare combination. It tells its story well, making the audience feel deeply the sorrow and beauty of its characters.

Best Actor

WU Kang-jen, White Ant

An acting performance without exaggeration, Wu Kang-jen grasps the characteristics of the role with delicacy and precision to fully portray the richness of his character’s inner state.

Best Actress

YIN Shin, The Island That All Flow By

Yin Shin is in good command of her interpretation of the role, perfectly finding its tempo, and filling her acting with details rather than offering a conceptual rendition.

Best Supporting Actor

HUANG Yuan, Missing Johnny

Very naturalistic acting, simple and direct, that finds a suitable way to portray the way of life of the character.

Best Supporting Actress

LIU Yin-shan, Cloudy
A pitch perfect performance that captures the state of the character’s illness, delicately showing an inner state that is rarely seen, and demonstrating excellent attention to detail.

Best New Talent

Rima Zeidan, Missing Johnny

In a film that does not emphasize the plot, the actress gives a naturalistic performance without pretension that captures the heart and soul of the character.

Award for Outstanding Artistic Contribution (Cinematography)

YAO Hung-I, Missing Johnny

The atmosphere of the film is created by its cinematography. The flow of the camerawork echoes the complicated interpersonal relationships in the city and give life to the film beyond its story.

Award for Outstanding Artistic Contribution (Editing)

LAI Hsiu-hsiung, The Great Buddha +

The editing flows throughout and is not abrupt, allowing the story and characters to naturally reveal themselves through the tempo of the film.

Award for Outstanding Artistic Contribution (Music)

LIN Sheng-xiang, The Great Buddha +

The music mixes a rich variety of styles combining generic forms with local elements that tap into the story’s sources. With delicate design, it makes interesting connections with the voiceover and visual language, becoming a rich and lively work in terms of concept and style.

Award for Outstanding Artistic Contribution (Art Design) 

CHAO Shih-hao, The Great Buddha +

With its stylish and detailed approach, it fittingly constructs the living environment of the story; one that is ironic and exaggerated, portraying the details of the characters, and forming the script’s unique world.

Press Award

The Road to Mandalay

The film depicts the struggles of Burmese migrant workers in a difficult, foreign location with humanity and explores their psychological conflicts. With limited resources the film achieves a high standard of film aesthetics, while the actor Kai Ko gives an explosive performance, showing a different side of his potential. This award is to acknowledge the artistic achievement of the film.

Audience Choice Award

Condemned Practice Mode

Yang Shih-chi Outstanding Contribution Award

JAN Hung-tze

“The Wound” awarded Grand Prize as Special Jury Prize goes to “Mimosas”

Taiwanese contestant “The Great Buddha +” scoops Audience’s Choice Award

On 4^th July, the Taipei Film Festival announce the winners of the International New Talent Competition after five days of intensive viewing and discussion between five jury members chaired by the renowned Turkish screenwriter and director Reha Erdem. The Wound directed by John Trengove from South Africa is awarded the Grand Prize and a cash prize of 600,000 New Taiwan Dollars while the Special Jury Prize and a cash prize of 300,000 New Taiwan Dollars go to Mimosas directed by Oliver Laxe from Spain. Moreover, one of the Taiwanese contestants, The Great Buddha +, wins the Audience’s Choice Award. The Commissioner of the Department of Cultural Affairs at Taipei City Government Chung Yung-feng, the President of the Taipei Film Festival Mark Lee Ping-bing and the renowned director Hou Hsiao-hsien attend the award ceremony to show their support for all the nominees.

When John Trengove receives the trophy from Reha Erdem, Mark Lee Ping-bing and Hou Hsiao-hsien, he gets very emotional as he says, ‘This is such a fantastic film festival!’ He then expresses his gratitude for the courage that his cast and crew have demonstrated and their willingness to show their most private thoughts and feelings in the film. Moreover, Trengove praises the warmth and friendliness he has received during his visit to Taipei, and that has made a very deep impression on him. Explaining the reason for The Wound to be awarded the Grand Prize, the jury point out that the film intimately portrays the conflicts in the protagonists’ inner worlds while dealing with crucial issues such as traditional culture and homosexuality. Without falling into a didactic narrative, Trengove successfully raises several important issues, including the conflicts between traditions and changes, as well as between personal beliefs and collective consciousness.

Reha Erdem, John Trengove(the director of The Wound), Hou Hsiao-hsien and Mark Lee Ping-bing

The Special Jury Prize is handed to Felipe Lage Coro, the producer of Mimosas, by jury members João Pedro Rodrigues and Anocha Suwichakornpong. Through the outstanding cinematography, editing, sound design and casting, Mimosas pushes the film art to a higher level; with its rich images, the film leads the audiences to embark on a journey of exploring the art of cinema in the past and the present.

Felipe Lage Coro(the producer of Mimosas), João Pedro Rodrigues and Anocha Suwichakornpong

The Audience’s Choice Award goes to The Great Buddha +, one of the two Taiwanese nominees. When director Huang Hsin-yao receives the award from jury members Arvin Chen and Singing Chen, he happily thanks not only the jury but every audience who appreciates the film.

Huang Hsin-yao(the director of The Great Buddha + ), Arvin Chen and Singing Chen

In addition to the chair, Reha Erdem, there are four jury members, including Portuguese director João Pedro Rodrigues, Thai director Anocha Suwichakornpong and two Taiwanese directors, Arvin Chen and Singing Chen. Reha Erdem expresses that the issues raised in the twelve nominated films are highly diverse, and all of them have shown excellent production quality and thorough in-depth discussion on humanity and social issues, and that has made the viewing and judging process very enjoyable. 

all the nominees of the International New Talent Competition 

The 2017 Taipei Film Festival opens on the evening of 29^th June with The Great Buddha + world premiere in the Zhongshan Hall tonight. At its world premiere, executive producer Yeh Ju-fen, director Huang Hsin-yao and the cast, including Chen Chu-sheng, Chuang Yi-tseng, Ting Kuo-lin, Nadou, Chang Shao-huai, Hsiao Liang-ge and Chen Yi-wen, music composer Lin Sheng-hsiang, the Chair of the Taipei Film Festival Mark Lee Ping-bing and the 2017 Taipei Film Festival ambassadors, Wu Kang-jen and Jenny Wen all attend the event. Director Huang Hsin-yao expresses that he feels like coming home today since his short films and documentaries were screened at the Taipei Film Festival, and he is very happy that his first feature is chosen as this year’s opening film. When the Chair of the Taipei Film Festival Mark Lee Ping-bing addresses to the audiences, he thanks everyone who has come the screenings, allowing the Festival to keep growing, and he makes it clear that the Festival is wholeheartedly dedicated to the Taiwanese cinema.

Chair of the Taipei Film Festival Mark Lee Ping-bing 

The Great Buddha + is an extension of Huang’s 2014 Golden Horse Award nominated short film, The Great Buddha. Huang explains that The Great Buddha is a concept while The Great Buddha + is the materialisation of the concept, turning it into a story that looks deeper into more issues. The story begins with two protagonists secretly watching the footage recorded on their boss’s dashboard camera. Huang is fascinated by the fact that on such footage, the image recorded is what is seen outside the car while the sound is what is heard inside the vehicle as if they came from two different worlds, and that inspired him to show the reality in black and white and the recorded footage in colour. Yeh Ju-fen, the executive producer, praises its visual presentation, which is not only highly stylised but full of Taiwanese features and assures the audiences that they would love such a unique film.

Chen Yi-wen, Chang Shao-huai, Nadou, executive producer Yeh Ju-fen, director Huang Hsin-yao, the cast Chuang Yi-tseng, Chen Chu-sheng, Ting Kuo-lin

The Golden Bell Award-winning actor Chen Chu-sheng plays the protagonist Bellybutton. He expresses that what he remembers best about the performance is that he had to learn how people in the southern Taiwan talk, and he had made several attempts as he did when working in theatre. Once during the shooting, he had stopped having a shower for three days just to experience what life was like for those who were marginalised in society.

Chuang Yi-tseng, Chen Chu-sheng, Ting Kuo-lin

As most of the members of cast and crew of The Great Buddha + had worked together on Chung Meng-hung’s Godspeed (2016), Nadou, who played the shop assistant in the grocery, felt very comfortable during the shooting. Despite the eye infection he suffers at the moment, Nadou joins his fellow actors at the world premiere. Moreover, Chang Shao-huai, who plays the supporting character that speaks only one line in the film, smiles and explains it in a good humour. ‘Without the lines, I’m given more freedom to express myself!’

Chen Yi-wen, Chang Shao-huai

Nominated for Best Narrative Feature at the Taipei Film Awards and selected for the International New Talent Competition, The Great Buddha + is director Huang Hsin-yao’s first feature film based on his 2014 Golden Horse Award nominated short film, The Great Buddha. The black humour, the vitality and the unique Taiwanese features demonstrated in the short film caught the attention from director Chung Meng-hung, who served on the jury at the time. Later Chung suggested to Huang that he should turn it into a feature. In the end, Chung Meng-hung not only became the executive producer of production but worked as director of photography. The stylish cinematography, the thrilling satirical story and the music composed by the Golden Melody Award winner Lin Sheng-hsiang make The Great Buddha + the most anticipated Taiwanese film of the year. Director Huang Hsin-yao won the Grand Prize at the Taipei Film Awards with the documentary Taivalu in 2011, and now we cannot wait to see if he would win any prize this year.  

The International New Talent Competition at the Taipei Film Festival is the only international competition in Taiwan aimed at discovering new directors. The nominated films this year come from Europe, Asia and Africa, demonstrating the thriving creative energy around the world. The jury this year will be chaired by the well-known Turkish director Reha Erdem, the Best Director of last year’s Locarno International Film Festival João Pedro Rodrigues from Portugal, Rotterdam Hivos Tiger Award winner Anocha Suwichakornpong from Thailand and two Taiwanese directors, Singing Chen and Arvin Chen. Five juries will decide the winners of the Grand Prize and the Special Jury Prize, which will be announced at the award ceremony held on 4^th July.

Reha Erdem, the chair of the International New Talent Competition jury, is praised as the Turkish director whose works have been selected to Venice, Berlinale and Tokyo Film Festival. The poetic narrative and rhythm in his films always leave a deep impression on the audiences. His latest work, Big Big World, won the Special Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival Horizontal Awards, and it will be screened at the 2017 Taipei Film Festival.

Chair of the International New Talent Competition jury, Reha Erdem

O Fantasma, the debut feature from João Pedro Rodrigues was nominated for the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival in 2000. He was featured as the “Filmmaker in Focus” in 2015 Taipei Film Festival. His films are known for his exploration of human desire in various aspects, and through his involvement in feature as well as experimental filmmaking, Rodrigues has demonstrated the richness of cinema. His latest feature, The Ornithologist, won him Best Director at the 2016 Locarno International Film Festival, and the film is included in the programme of the upcoming Taipei Film Festival.

João Pedro Rodrigues

The thesis film, Graceland, from Thailand director Anocha Suwichakornpong was the first Thai short film selected for the Cannes Film Festival. Her first feature, Mundane History, won the Hivos Tiger Award at the International Film Festival Rotterdam and the NETPAC Award at the Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival in 2010. Her second feature, By the Time It Gets Dark, received Best Film (New Talent Award) at the Hong Kong Asian Film Festival.

Anocha Suwichakornpong

Two young Taiwanese directors, Singing Chen and Arvin Chen, sit on the jury of the International New Talent Competition this year. Singing Chen has been making features as well as documentaries since her career in film began. Her first feature, Bundled, won Best Narrative Feature and Best New Director at the 2000 Taipei Film Awards. In 2007, her God Man Dog was selected for the Berlinale Forum and won three nominations at the Taipei Golden Horse Awards. In 2014, The Walkers, a documentary that took Chen ten years to finish, was nominated for Best Documentary at the Taipei Golden Horse Awards and in competition at the Taiwan International Documentary Festival. The experiences Chen has accumulated over the years are expected to bring a unique view on film aesthetics into the judging process. Arvin Chen’s graduation film, Mei, won the Silver Bear Short Film Award at the Berlinale in 2007. Au Revoir Taipei, Chen’s debut feature produced by Wim Winders won the Asian Film Award at the 2010 Berlinale. His 2013 film, Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?, was selected for the Berlinale Panorama section.

Singing Chen & Arvin Chen

The International New Talent Competition is Taiwan’s only international competition for new directors and is open to international filmmakers with their first or second feature. The nominated films will be screened from June 29 to July 15 at Taipei’s Zhongshan Hall, Shin Kong Cinemas, and SPOT Huashan Cinema. For more information, please visit the Taipei Film Festival’s official website and Facebook fan page. 

The Taipei Film Festival announce today that the Festival will open with The Great Buddha + directed by Huang Hsin-yao and close with MANFEI directed by Chen Hyin-gen. Moreover, both films are nominated for the Taipei Film Awards and will hold their world premiere at the 2017 Taipei Film Festival. In addition, the Festival release the promotional shorts directed by Chiang Wei Liang, whose Anchorage Prohibited won Best Short Film at the Taipei Film Awards and the Audi Short Film Awards at the Berlinale in 2016. The short films stars this year’s Taipei Film Festival ambassadors, Wu Kang-jen and Wen Chen-ling.

The opening film, The Great Buddha +, is director Huang Hsin-yao’s first narrative feature. Huang won the Grand Prize at the 2011 Taipei Film Awards for Taivalu. Noted for the unique black humour and the portrayal of the country’s vitality, The Great Buddha + is based on Huang’s 2014 short film, The Great Buddha, which was nominated for Best Short Film at the 2014 Golden Horse Awards. Furthermore, the renowned Taiwanese director Chung Mong-hung worked as executive producer and the director of photography on the film.

The closing film, MANFEI, is directed by Chen Hyin-gen, who received several nominations at the Taipei Film Awards for Island Etude(2007) and A Life that Sings(2014) in previous years. MANFEI tells the story of the late dancer Lo Man-fei of Cloud Gate Dance Theatre, showing the works of the famous dancer and choreographer as well as her dedication to the dance education in Taiwan. Director Chen got into MANFEI and found the angle to approach such a legend in contemporary dance through the insight of Lin Hwai-min, the founder and the artistic director of Cloud Gate Dance Theatre.

The promotional shorts of the 2017 Taipei Film Festival is unveiled today. Chiang Wei Liang, a Singaporean director based in Taiwan, invites many Southeast Asian migrant workers and immigrants to participate, starring with this year’s festival ambassadors Wu Kang-jen and Wen Chen-ling. The 30-second version consists of a single shot, revealing how the audiences are enchanted with the film in the cinema. In the 90-second director’s cut, Chiang not only portrays various aspects of the lives of the Southeast Asian migrant workers and immigrants in Taiwan, including their work, romance and family life, but also uses these images to pay homage to the Taiwanese New Cinema. The Taipei Film Festival hope that these promotional shorts would remind the Taiwanese audiences that our friends from the Southeast Asia are not only the characters seen on-screen but our neighbours, who live with us on this island.

Taipei Film Festival announced the nominees for the 2017 Taipei Film Awards on May 16. At the press conference yesterday, Mark Lee Ping-bing, the President of Taipei Film Festival presented the certificates of nomination to all 40 films.

▲Mark Lee Ping-bing, the President of Taipei Film Festival

There was a total of 293 submissions this year, with competition for the most-anticipated Narrative Feature film category especially intense. Three of the Narrative Feature nominees have already gained exposure at international film festivals—CHU Hsien-che’s White Ant won the FIPRESCI Award at the Busan International Film Festival, Midi Z’s The Road to Mandalay captured the Fedeora Award for Best Film at the Venice International Film Festival, and CHEN Hung-i’s The Last Painting competed for the Big Screen Award at the International Film Festival Rotterdam. Also in contention are the new director works The Great Buddha+ and Missing Johnny, both recently named finalists of the International New Talent Competition. Box office and critical successes The Village of No Return by CHEN Yu-hsun and Who Killed Cock Robin by CHENG Wei-hao are the nominees that represent Taiwan’s best commercial films of the year; CHAN Ching-lin, who previously won Best Director at the Taipei Film Awards for the short film, A Breath from the Bottom, has been nominated again for his first feature-length TV movie, The River That All Flow By. Rounding off the Feature film category are Forêt Debussy, which features exceptional performances from GWEI Lun-mei and LU Yi-ching, and WANG Min-tai’s Cloudy, which will be making its world premiere at the festival.
 

▲The Narrative Feature nominees The Great Buddha+, and The Last Painting

The subjects covered by the nominees for the Taipei Film Awards’ typically dazzling Documentary category are highly diverse this year, reflecting the broad perspectives of Taiwanese filmmakers. The 10 nominees include this year’s most eye-catching documentary, Small Talk, winner of the Teddy Award in the Best Documentary category at the Berlin International Film Festival; Wansei Painter – Tetsuomi Tateishi, which depicts Taiwanese history before and after World War II through the eyes of a Wansei painter; MANFEI, which will be making its world premiere at the Taipei Film Festival and is directed by CHEN Hyin-gen, who took the Taipei Film Awards by storm in 2015 with A Life That Sings; Black Bear Forest, which focused on the Formosan black bear through the revolutionary friendship between a female zoologist and an indigenous Bunun hunter; Looking For?, a contemporary tale about gay men in the world of dating apps; Unfinished Progress, a record of the political movements discussing the different ideas people have toward a political future; Condemned Practice Mode, a discussion of human nature and faith through the examination of a miscarriage of justice; The Mother and Her Son, a look into serious illness and disadvantaged families; Ripples Apart, which follows the Olympic dream of Taiwanese windsurfer Chang Hao and his Australian coach; and MATA – the Island’s Gaze, which explores the impact of images on Formosa through reconstructing the time and space of a photograph taken of an indigenous hunter taken by a Scottish photographer in Taiwan back in 1871.

▲The Documentary nominee MANFEI

This year’s lineup of Short Film nominees is also formidable and includes 2016 Cannes Film Festival International Critics’ Week selection Arnie, a magical fable by director Rina B. TSOU about a Filipino fisherman; Towards the Sun, a Cinéfondation Selection from the 2017 Cannes Film Festival; Babes’ Not Alone, an International Film Festival Rotterdam selection about a young woman’s frustrations when she is forced to look after a baby that’s not her own; student work Wild Tides, a raw and low-key depiction of rural Taiwanese youth at a loss from having nothing to do; Spring Breeze Young Men, a black-and-white portrayal of aimless Taipei university students who lead spiritless lives due to bleak futures; Dxgal, the short film debut of documentary filmmaker SU Hung-en that looks into the contrasting values different generations of indigenous people place on the land; Love After Time, the new film from Winds of September screenwriter TSAI Tsung-han about a mutant love story in the aftermath of a nuclear disaster; Our Base, in which two elementary school girls construct a secret base in a park but are hiding an even bigger secret; Purple Days, which explores the emotions of a hairdresser and Jazz band musician living as foreigners in New York and Japan; and True Emotion Behind the Wall, the latest project of Thanatos, Drunk director CHANG Tso-chi, which illustrates the lament and nostalgia of the incarcerated.

▲The Narrative Feature nominees White Ant, and Missing Johnny

The nominees in the Animation category are also very competitive. They include Back, a surreal tale about the relationship between a grandfather and grandson, directed by multiple nominee and award-winner WU De-chuen; and Stories About Him, in which director YANG Yung-shen uses paper cutout and other animation techniques to piece together his grandfather’s appearance and memories. Both films will be making their world premiere at the Taipei Film Festival. Other nominated works include A Shiung and Price Siddhartha, a Buddhist tale directed by former Golden Horse Award Best Animation Feature winner KUNG Gen-ho; Bart, a unique and exquisite puppet animation featuring sculpted dough figurines; And Then, a black-and-white animation depicting a rigid and standardized modern urban society; White Tunnel, which portrays the treacherous atmosphere inside a cab as estranged siblings visit their mother’s grave together; Long Island, which revolves around the contradictions and struggles of an elderly lighthouse keeper who yearns for company; 20, a look into humanity in simple yet impactful lines; Fundamental, a well-executed journey exploring the values of youth; and WALL, a story about deciding to make a change rather than forever remaining in hiding, as told through the eyes of a street rat.

The Taipei Film Awards showcase the four categories of Narrative Feature, Documentary, Short Film, and Animation, with each category selecting up to 10 nominees. Each nominated film is in the running for the acting and technical award categories and is in contention for the NT$1 million Grand Prize, the Taiwan film industry’s largest monetary prize. All nominated films will screen during the festival period. The winners will be chosen by a jury and announced at an award ceremony at Taipei’s Zhongshan Hall on July 15.

2017 Taipei Film Awards Nominees

The 19^th Taipei Film Festival has unveiled the selection for its highly anticipated International New Talent Competition, which received more than 500 submissions from around the world this year. The nominated films stretch across Europe and Asia and all the way to Africa, putting the talents of emerging filmmakers in world cinema on full display. The 12 selected films, ranging across Taiwan, China, Brazil, Belgium, Israel, Spain, South Africa, the United States, Singapore, and Romania, will be competing for the TWD 600,000 Grand Prize, as well as the TWD 300,000 Special Jury Prize and the Audience’s Choice Award. Making their world premieres at the festival are the Taiwanese films The Great Buddha+ by Huang Hsin-Yao and Missing Johnny by Huang Xi, while The Foolish Bird, The Wound, People That Are Not Me, Pedular, and Insyriated will be making their Asian premieres.

The Great Buddha+ was developed from the 2014 Golden Horse nominee for Best Short Film of the same name. The film’s director, Huang Hsin-Yao, is an experienced documentary filmmaker who won the Grand Prize and Best Documentary at the 13^th Taipei Film Awards for Taivalu in 2011. The Great Buddha+ is his first full-length feature film and stars actors Leon Dai and Chang Shao-Huai. The story depicts a struggling middle-aged man living on the edge who accidentally discovers an unspeakable secret after sneaking a peek at what is on his boss’s dashboard camera.

Huang Xi’s feature film debut, Missing Johnny, boasts legendary director Hou Hsiao-hsien as executive producer, Yao Hongyi as director of photography, and Lim Giong and Point Hsu as composers. The film stars Lawrence Ko, Rima Zeidan, and Huang Yuan in an interweaving tale about three characters whose routine lives collide and intersect through chance and coincidence.

▲The Great Buddha+、Missing Johnny

There are two films from China selected this year. The first is Children Are Not Afraid of Death, Children Are Afraid of Ghosts, winner of the NETPAC Award at the 2017 International Film Festival Rotterdam. This poetic documentary was created by filmmaker Rong Guang Rong, who snuck into a poor rural village in China with his mobile phone to explore the aftermath of a tragedy through both his own perspective as an adult and the eyes of children. The second is The Foolish Bird, which was honored with a Special Mention by the Generation 14plus International Jury at the Berlin International Film Festival. This film, the follow-up to director Huang Ji and her husband Ryuji Otsuka’s 2012 Rotterdam Tiger Award-winning Egg and Stone, turns the lens to the sexual awakening of a naïve teenage girl.

▲Children Are Not Afraid of Death, Children Are Afraid of Ghosts、The Foolish Bird

Singaporean film Pop Aye, the feature debut of Kirsten Tan, has already captured the Screenwriting Award in the World Cinema – Dramatic category of the Sundance Film Festival and the Big Screen Award at the International Film Festival Rotterdam. Featuring Ilo Ilo filmmaker Anthony Chen as an executive producer, the film depicts a middle-aged architect and an elephant on a road trip across Thailand.

Directed by kogonada, Columbus was selected for both the International Film Festival Rotterdam and the Sundance Film Festival. Starring renowned Korean-American actor John Cho, the film examines the interaction between architecture and relationships through an outsider who finds himself stuck in the titular American town.

▲Pop Aye、Columbus

John Trengove’s feature debut, The Wound, deals with two taboo topics—the circumcision ritual of South Africa’s Xhosa ethnic group and same-sex love. The film made its premiere at this year’s Sundance Film Festival and was selected as the opening film of the Panorama Program of Berlin International Film Festival.

A modern Western set in Africa, Mimosas is the second feature-length film of director Oliver Laxe. The film won the Grand Prize at the Cannes’ Critics Week in 2016.

▲The Wound、Mimosas

An official selection of the Locarno Film Festival, People That Are Not Me is directed by and stars young Israeli filmmaker Hadas Ben Aroya. The film took home the top prize of the international competition at the 31^st Mar del Plata International Film Festival.

Directed by Brazilian filmmaker Júlia Murat, Pedular is the winner of the FIPRESCI Prize at this year’s Berlin International Film Festival. The film is a love story about a pair of artists who explore their creativity in a vast but decadent loft.

▲People That Are Not Me、Pedular

In Insyriated, director Philippe Van Leeuw focuses his lens on an apartment building under siege against the backdrop of the war in Syria. The film won the Panorama Audience Award at the 2017 Berlin International Film Festival.

Directed by Bogdan Mirică, Dogs was a standout in contemporary Romanian cinema when it was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival and won the FIPRESCI Prize.

▲Insyriated、Dogs

The International New Talent Competition is Taiwan’s only international competition for new directors and is open to international filmmakers with their first or second feature. The nominated films will be screened from June 29 to July 15 at Taipei’s Zhongshan Hall, Shin Kong Cinemas, and SPOT Huashan Cinema. For more information, please visit the Taipei Film Festival’s official website and Facebook fan page. 

2017 Taipei Film Festival International New Talent Competition line-up

Connecting Taiwanese Cineastes with the International Market

Now Accepting Applications for the 3rd Produire au Sud Taipei Workshop

Introducing for the first-time: 3-Stage Follow-up Script Guidance

Produire au Sud Taipei Workshop is organized by the Bureau of Audiovisual and Music Industry Development (Ministry of Culture) and co-organized by the French Office in Taipei. It is executed by Nante’s Festival des 3 Continents and Taipei Film Festival. Inaugurated in 2015, it has been well received by local cineastes. This year, the third workshop will take place from July 5 to 10 during the Taipei Film Festival. International senior lecturers selected by the Festival des 3 Continents will provide professional experience and advice covering key aspects of filmmaking from pitching and fundraising to international distribution and sales to help Taiwanese cineastes to enhance their ability in international co-production and development. This year, two lecturers on screenwriting have been especially invited to carry out a three-stage follow-up script guidance, so that each project in the workshop can fully develop. Produire au Sud Taipei Workshop is now accepting applications for 2017. The deadline is May 2.

This year, Produire au Sud Taipei Workshop is divided into three stages. Participants selected to join the workshop are required to participate in all stages. The first stage takes place from July 5 to 10, 2017, focusing primarily on participants’ film proposals and scripts. They will receive one-on-one professional guidance covering angles such as production, distribution, and a series of complete courses on pitching technique. The second stage workshop will run from November 1 to 3, 2017, and the third stage from February 7 to 9, 2018, and will focus on the follow-up to scripts proposed in the first stage with the aim of greatly enhancing the completeness of the scripts and the possibility of international co-production through adjustment during the seven months.

Since its first version in 2015, Produire au Sud Taipei Workshop has attracted many active cineastes and emerging filmmakers, with the results already beginning to emerge. Among the participants of the first workshop, filmmaker Chen Hung-I and producer Wei Ying-Chuan have completed The Last Painting in 2016 which originated from their proposal The Terrorizers in Love. The film was nominated in the official competition of the Big Screen Award at the 46^th International Film Festival Rotterdam and selected as the opening film of Taipei Golden Horse Fantastic Film Festival this year. Emerging filmmaker Rina B. Tsou, who also took part in the first workshop subsequently won project development funds from the NEXT MASTERS SUPPORT PROGRAM at the 2016 Talents Tokyo with her proposal Raining Roses.

Other participants in the Produire au Sud Taipei Workshop include filmmakers HSU Chao-Jen, Shih Li, Ming-Lang Chen, Kek Huat LAU, John Han-Chiang Hsu, Yung-Chi Chen and producers CHANG Chuti, Steven Tu, Jewel, Chen-Lin Lai, among others. After the courses, they said not only the professional knowledge and one-on-one consultation provided by the workshop offered substantive and comprehensive suggestions for different pitches, but also the professional lecturers’ viewpoints made them re-examine their proposals and their international potential before making further adjustment.

Nante’s Festival des 3 Continents has a thirty-year history concentrated on the discovery of unique filmmaking talent from Asia, Latin-America and Africa, and bringing great films from the three continents into France. Filmmakers such as Hou Hsiao-Hsien and Jia Zhangke have been introduced to Europe through the festival before achieving international distinction. Since 2000, the festival has been holding Produire au Sud Workshops (abbr. PAS) which aim to provide knowledge of international cooperation for young filmmakers from the three continents so they can develop more opportunities for international co-production. PAS has also successively cooperated with film festivals in Israel, Thailand, Venezuela and other countries for many years. It has received more than 150 proposals from various countries and its alumni includes Apichatpong Weerasethakul, winner of the Palme d'Or of Cannes Festival. Participants’ films have entered several prominent international festivals such as Cannes, Locarno, and Sundance.

The PAS course is conducted in English only. Each application must comprise of a director and producer team. Each team must provide a script and a proposal that are completed or nearly completed. Those who are selected must join each of the course’s three stages. Workshop participants only need to pay the deposit; no tuition fee is required. Now accepting applications. The deadline is May 2. Selected proposals will be announced on May 8.

★Application page: http://form.zonefestival.com/?k=continents_f5ls

★Key Dates of PAS:

Application: March 27 to May 2, 2017

Announcement of selected participants: May 8, 2017

Workshop’s first stage: July 5 to 10, 2017

Workshop’s second stage: November 1 to 3, 2017

Workshop’s third stage: February 7 to 9, 2018

Taipei Film Festival announces Call for Entry for its International New Talent Competition (hereafter INTC) today. INTC is open to international filmmakers with their first or second features. The minimum length should be 70 minutes and should be premiered after March 25, 2016. The deadline for submission is March 24, 2017. Guidelines and application form can be found here. 

The International New Talent Competition is the major international film competition in Taiwan. Around 10 to 12 films are selected annually to compete for the Grand Prize, Special Jury Prize and Audience Choice Award. The winner of the Grand Prize receives a TWD 600,000 (approx. USD 18,000) cash prize. The Special Jury Prize winner will get a TWD 300,000 (approx. USD 9,000) cash prize. Five jury members consisting of film directors, producers, film critics and festival programmers from the international film industry decide on the prize winners. The Audience Choice Award will be voted for by the audiences.

The German/Mongolian film Don’t Look at Me That Way by Uisenma Borchu won the Grand Prize in 2016. The film was praised by director Tran Anh Hung, head of the Jury for its vitality, its audacity and its mysterious beauty. The Special Jury Prize was given to teen pregnancy drama Keeper by Belgian director Guillaume Senez. The Taiwanese aboriginal children’s film Lokah Laqi! (Hang in There, Kids!) received the Audience Choice Award before going on to represent Taiwan as its Best Foreign Language Oscar submission. 

The 19^th Taipei Film Festival will be held from June 29 to July 15, 2017.

▲All the winners and jury members of 2016 International New Talent Competition

Taipei Film Festival Appoints Director Shen Ko-shang as New Festival Director

Taipei Film Festival announces that its new Festival Director will be acclaimed documentary filmmaker Shen Ko-Shang. He assumes office from September 29th.

▲ Taipei Film Festival announces that its new Festival Director will be Shen Ko-Shang.

He will bring to the festival over fifteen years of industry experience and makes a close connection between the festival and filmmakers, with the aim of supporting new directors and diverse Taiwanese films.

Shen’s own work has covered fiction, documentary, and experimental film as well as television commercials. His notable works include Baseball Boys, Children from the Distant Planet, and ‘Bus Odyssey’ (segment of 10+10). Shen has a long-lasting association with Taipei Film Festival. His student film, Layover, won the Best Fiction in the Independent Film category in the 2^nd Taipei Film Festival in 1999. His works have been consistently included in the festival ever since. His acclaimed documentary, A Rolling Stone, won both the Grand Prize and Best Documentary in the 2013 Taipei Film Awards. He served as a jury member for the Taipei Film Awards in 2015.

On joining Taipei Film Festival, Shen said, ‘I’m a filmmaker. I’m new to the festival operation and I will learn from the start. My intention on joining the festival is to assist both filmmakers and audiences, and to form a perspective towards film culture that is unique to Taipei Film Festival. Finally, I hope that the festival can inspire a diverse audience to be close to film, and to support potential filmmakers in a concrete way.

Taipei Film Festival belongs to Taipei Cultural Foundation and is chaired by renowned Director of Photography, Mark Lee Ping-Bing. Now preparing its 19^th year, the festival takes place in July with two key competitions, the Taipei Film Awards and the International New Talent Competition.

The 18^th Taipei Film Festival announced the winners of its International New Talent Competition today.

Its Grand Prize went to the debut film Don’t Look at Me That Way, a German-Mongolian production directed by Uisenma Borchu. The director was at the festival to receive her award jointly from Jury Chair, acclaimed Vietnamese director Tran Anh Hung and Taipei Film Festival President, cinematographer Mark Lee Ping Bing.  Giving the award, Tran said, “The jury has great pleasure in giving the Grand Prize to a stunning movie for its vitality, its audacity and its mysterious beauty.”

The Special Jury Prize was awarded to Keeper, by Guillaume Senez, a Belgian, French, Swiss production. The director was also in attendance to collect his award.  The jury “acknowledged a mature work from a new director, that demonstrated a deep analysis of character through cool, meticulous observation, combining an economy of style with precise technical execution on all levels.”

In addition, the jury gave a Special Mention to Sand Storm, by Israeli director Elite Zexer. Praising the film, the jury said, “caught between tradition and her desire for freedom, Sand Storm is a perfectly told story of the struggles and sacrifice of a young Israeli woman. From the strong acting, the emotional reveals of plot and character, and the use of cinema language, the director shows confident control in every aspect of filmmaking. For a first feature, to use the words “great potential” would be an understatement to the achievements of this film. The jury unanimously recognizes Sand Storm for the special mention award.”

The final award was the Audience’s Choice, which went to the Taiwanese film Lokah Laqi! (Hang in There, Kids!), directed by Laha Mebow.

Along with Tran Anh Hung, the other jury members were Taiwanese actress/producer Lee Lieh, veteran Japanese critic, Udagawa Koyo, Taiwanese director Tom Shu-Yu Lin, and program director of Singapore International Film Festival, Zhang Wenjie. The jury took four and a half hours to reach their decision, after which they praised the high standard of all the films in this year’s competition.

The Taipei Film Festival announces the Outstanding Contribution Award Winner today (9^th June). Since Funscreen received the honour in 2012, the award, once again, goes to a group – Taipei Documentary Filmmakers’ Union. It represents the recognition of the Union’s ten years’ devotion to the Taiwanese documentary, as it never stops pushing the reforms and development in the Taiwanese film and television industries.

Founded on 9 September 2006, the Taipei Documentary Filmmakers’ Union was the first union set up by filmmakers. Its members range from young talents to established veterans involved in all aspects of documentary production; they include directors, scriptwriters, cinematographers, editors, composers and festival staff. Its objectives are protecting the documentary filmmakers’ labour right, raising the standards of professional skills within the industry and promoting the development of documentary films.

The Outstanding Contribution Award jury express. ‘The Taipei Documentary Filmmakers’ Union is actively involved in researching and publishing works on Taiwanese documentary; they have conducted oral history projects on such a large scale that a written record of more than one million Chinese characters is compiled. Moreover, it quickly and sensitively responds to all social movements in Taiwan. For instance, as soon as the students occupied the parliament in March 2014, an action later known as “Sunflower Movement”, the Union gathered dozens of its members and launched a crowfunding website to raise production fund. In six months, the documentary, Sunflower Occupation, was completed, and it is a visual record of an important student and civil rights moment in the Taiwanese history.’

The 2016 Taipei Film Festival will be held from 30 June to 16Julyat the Taipei Zhongshan Hall, Shin Kong Cinemas and SPOT Huashan. The Taipei Film Award Ceremony will be held on 16 July.

Women directors and issues concerning women play an important role in the 2016 Taipei Film Festival International New Talent Competition  

▲Lokah Laqi! (Hang in There, Kids!)

Taipei Film Festival has announced its selection for this year’s International New Talent Competition. The selection ranges from Taiwan to Myanmar, Tunisia, Nepal, France and beyond. It is worth noting that almost half of the directors are women. All of the nominated films will be screened during the Festival with the directors in attendance. On 5^th July, the International New Talent Competition Award Ceremony will be held, and the winners of the Grand Prize, Special Jury Prize and Audience Choice Award will be announced.
 

▲Not Burma Anymore

Of the films, Not Burma Anymore, a Taiwan-Myanmar co-production, will have its world premiere. It is director Z. J. Wang’s feature debut. Born in Myanmar, Wang came to study in Taiwan, where he got the inspiration and skills to be a filmmaker. Wang worked as assistant director on Thanatos, Drunk (directed by Chang Tso-Chi) and Stray Dogs (by Tsai Ming-Liang). In the film he shows how a young man, who returns to Myanmar from Taiwan, struggles between two countries and cultures. Based on his friend’s experience, Wang directed and acts in Not Burma Anymore, a film about a young man who gets tricked into returning to Myanmar by his father after having lived in Taiwan for years. As a narrator, he tells us his observation on society and daily life during a war. When Wang received the good news from the Festival, he said, “The recognition from the Taipei Film Festival feels like some pressure, but it also makes me very happy. It encourages me to keep telling stories.”

▲Sand Storm

Lokah Laqi! (Hang in There, Kids!), is also a nominee for Taipei Film Awards. It shows how three out-going Taiwanese aboriginal boys cope with the difficulties in their families and lives. On a field trip, they try to realise both their own dreams and those of others. Director, Laha Mebow, a Taiwanese aboriginal, portrays the difficulties that confront the Taiwanese aborigines in a both realist and humorous tone. Upon hearing of the nomination, Laha Mebow said, ‘It proves that the stories of Taiwanese aborigines are well received in Taiwan and abroad. Our identity gives us a strong power.’

▲As I Open My Eyes

Other contenders in the competition include The Wounded Angel by Emir Baigazin, who debuted with Harmony Lesson, a Berlin Silver Bear winner. Set in the mid-1990s, at a time of economic crisis, The Wounded Angel sees four teenagers facing up to the tough climate of the real world. Keeper by Guillaume Senez shows how a pair of fifteen-year-olds decide to become parents when the girl gets pregnant unexpectedly. It is a moving journey told from the viewpoint of a young father-to-be. 

▲Paradise
 

Family Film by Olmo Omerzu is about two children exploring the freedom of being home alone when their parents are travelling abroad and have lost contact with them. The Black Hen by Min Bahadur Bham portrays two young boys, who set out to look for their lost hen and get caught in a war. It was the first Nepalese film ever screened at the Venice Film Festival, where it won Best Film at the Venice International Critics’ Week.

 ▲Don’t Look at Me That Way
 

A number of women directors present brilliant works that tackle the situations their heroines face in their lives. As I Open My Eyes by Leyla Bouzid tells the story of a young Tunisian woman, who sings in a political rock band, despite her family’s expectation that she will become a medical doctor, during the revolution taking place in the country. Sand Storm by Elite Zexer shows how a mother and daughter deal differently with the conventions imposed on women in Bedouin culture. In Don’t Look at Me That Way, director Uisenma Borchu, playing one of the leading roles herself, depicts the relationship between a single mother with a young daughter and a mysterious neighbour who walks into their lives. In Ogres, Léa Fehner portrays lives in a circus. Based on her own family background, she shows the members living like a tribe and how the return of an old flame reopens the wounds that they thought had healed.

Ataeian Dena brings Paradise to Taipei, in which he shows the ordeal of a school teacher trying to get transferred to a school closer to home, exposing the hypocrisies in Iranian society. Finally, Alone, is a thriller by Korean director Park Hong-min, a surreal drama of how a documentary filmmaker wakes up every day at the same spot, where he witnesses a murder.

The Tenants Downstairs is set to open the 2016 Taipei Film Festival. Created by the “golden triangle” behind You Are the Apple of My Eye (2011) and Café Waiting Love (2014), The Tenants Downstairs is a black fantastic thriller directed and produced by Adam Tsuei, presented by Angie Chai and written by Giddens Ko. It stars Simon Yam Tat Wah, Lee Kang-Sheng, Kaiser Chuang, Shao Yu-Wei and Li Hsing. Three, directed by Johnnie To with a cast including Zhao Wei, Louis Koo Tin Lok and Wallace Chung Hon Leong, is the closing film of the Festival. Produced by the Milkyway Image, Three is the latest and most innovative police drama that director Johnnie To has made in twenty years, and he will attend the screening in Taipei. The films will be premiered on 30 June (Thu) and 10 July (Sun) respectively at the Taipei Zhong Shan Hall.

Moving from music into film, The Tenants Downstairs is Adam Tsuei’s directorial debut. Based on Giddens Ko’s best-selling novel with the same title, its cast consists of award-winning stars such as Simon Yam Tat Wah, Lee Kang-Sheng and Kaiser Chuang and rising new talent, includingShao Yu-Wei and Li Hsing. Through voyeurism, we see the naked truth hidden in the human nature. The Tenants Downstairs is the most eagerly anticipated film this year, and the audiences will see that the story is told in the most daring and ambitious way. As for being invited to open the Taipei Film Festival, director Tsuei expresses. ‘I’m very happy that the film is chosen to be the Taipei Film Festival opening film this year since nothing is more exiting than gaining recognition in our own city. The cores of the film are the human nature and the problems hidden deep inside it. Actually, everyone has two sides,one outside the door and the other behind it. Usually, we don’t get to see what lies behind the door; the landlord installs the pinhole spy cameras in the rooms and watches what everyone does behind the door. It is a complicated story woven with the lives of eight tenants in six rooms.’

The closing film, Three, is a crime thriller, which is exactly To’s forte. On top of Louis Koo Tin Lok, with whom To has collaborated on ten films in thirteen years, Zhao Wei and Wallace Chung Hon Leong, join the production. The title, Three, means three protagonists in three professions, taking three differentstances in an incident. In the course of six hours, it tells a story of how a doctor, an armed robber and a police officer are involved in a complicated plot in a hospital where “birth, aging, sickness and death” are happening in endless cycles.

The 2016 Taipei Film Festival will be held from 30 June to 16Julyat the Taipei Zhongshan Hall, Shin Kong Cinemas and SPOT Huashan. The Taipei Film Award Ceremony will be held on 16 July. 

Final Call for Submission:

International New Talent Competition

Submission for the 2016 Taipei Film Festival International New Talent Competition closes on March 25th. Aimed at encouraging talented, emerging directors, the competition offers a Grand Prize (with prize money of US$ 20,000) and a Special Jury Prize (with prize money of US$ 10,000) chosen by an international jury. 

The International New Talent Competition is Taiwan’s principle global feature film competition. Directors who recently completed their first or second features are eligible to participate. All selected films will be screened during the Festival, which opens on June 30th.

The winner of last year’s Grand Prize, The Kindergarten Teacher by Nadav Lapid, impressed the jury through its enigmatic film language and mysterious, emotional, and compassionate story. In Her Place by Albert Shin won the Special Jury Prize. It stood out for its unique story that perfectly combined the myths of surrogate motherhood with the divisions within a rural and urban region.

The 18th Taipei Film Festival will be held from June 30th to July 16th. All nominees in the International New Talent Competition will be invited to Taipei to introduce their film. For the full guidelines, please visit our website: http://goo.gl/2JFoVJ