Streaming on-Demand from 16th to 30th September!
While the world is feeling wretched from the pandemic, Taiwanese movies are crowded with stories which demonstrates the island’s abundant cultural capacity. The films such as Zone Pro Site: The Moveable Feast and Man in Love represent Taiwan’s unique food culture through brilliant visual images. Hence the theme of this year’s festival, "Flavours", is to connect the sense of visual and taste, together offering the overseas audiences to sample the beauty of Taiwan.
“Due to the pandemic, the festival had to be postponed and cinema screenings cancelled. Instead, we will have online events such as Live Opening Night Banquet!, for movie fans to interact in virtual engagements of the festival. We want to bring the communities together even in lockdown” said Benson Wu, Festival Director.
Streaming on-demand from the 16 to 30 September, the festival program comprises of 13 feature films and 8 ingenious short films: included on the opening night film is the award-winning romantic comedy My Missing Valentine; The Silent Forest a daunting thriller adapted from real life story of the school violence, and Moneyboys a film with the collaboration of Taiwan, Austria, France and Belgium and received 3 nominations in Cannes Film Festival.
Excited to announce this year’s Short Film competition juries are Director Chen Yu-Hsun, Hong Kong International Film Festival Programme Consultant Kiki Fung, and Director Lau Kek Huat. The five nominated films for the Best Short Film competition are SWINGIN', JACKS, XXXMOG!, Child of Nowhere, and The Quiet. The winners will be announced on the 16 September at the Live Opening Night Banquet! event.
Filmmaker in Focus – Chen Yu-Hsun
“We want to focus on comedy this year to bring joy into people’s life and there is no better choice than showcase Director Chen’s works that’s full of creativity and comical storytelling style.”
Director Chen’s debut feature Tropical Fish uses dark comedy to dissect society issues, Love Go Go the navigation of romance relationships in Taipei by three city-dreamers, Zone Pro Site: The Moveable Feast presents the beautiful traditional cultures of Taiwanese cuisine, The Village of No Return a fantasy comedy starring Shu Qi (Three Times, Millennium Mambo) and Joseph Chang (The Victims' Game), and My Missing Valentine received multiple prestigious awards, including Best Director at Golden Horse Film Festival and Black Dragon Critics Award at Udine Far East Film Festival.
International Collaboration
Moneyboys by C.B Yi, nominated for Un Certain Regard, Caméra d'Or, and Queer Palm at the Cannes Film Festival, explores deep into human desire, hope, and greed with its beautiful and alluring cinemicrography. Butterflies by Spaniard director Albert Ventura, is a futuristic romance hovering between the reality and illusory of two women Yu and Lien. Taste by Lê Bảo, won the 2021 Berlinale - Encounters Prix Spécial du Jury, is a masterful craft challenge between realism and surrealism.
Adaptation Section
The Silent Forest by Ko Chen-Nien, produced in collaboration with the award-winning composer Lu Luming (Detention, Xiao Mei) and cinematographer Chen Chi-Wen (Sen Sen, The Island That All Flow By). The film is an adaptation from an actual event that happened in a school for the hearing impaired in Taiwan. Man in Love by Yin Chen Hao, starring award-winning casts Roy Chiu (Dear Ex) and Hsu Wei-Ning (The Tag-Along 2, TWFF 2018), this romantic drama achieved over US$14 million box office revenue in Taiwan.
Documentary Section
The Tree Remembers by Lau Kek-Huat (Boluomi, TWFF 2020) traces back to his hometown Malaysia's history through powerful archives footage and daunting interviews. Deriving from the proverb, "What the axe forgets, the tree remembers", the film explores some of the forbidden topics like colonisation, races, and identities. Unfulfilled Dreams by Chu Tien-Wen, who has worked on many screenplays such as Growing Up and Millennium Mambo with Taiwanese auteur Hou Hsiao-Hsien, who is also the producer of this work. The three sisters of Chu Family, detailing their family of literature, the historical background of culture and their parents' romantic relationship. The Way Home: The Call of the Azangiljan by Wei Yu-Chen, presents the harsh reality faced by many indigenous women, and the transverse truth of the island.
Short Film Selection
After Death by 9 directors (FA Talents) from the Golden Horse Film Academy, with director John Hsu of Detention as the mentor, the film is produced with high intensity of innovation and completion. Growing Pains by Lin Po-Yu, nominated for multiple international competition, portrays the life of a family struggling financially and betting on their last hope to win a jackpot. Family Day by Leong Siew-Hong provides a re-evaluation of the technology on human’s freedom and rights.
Live Events
In the past, our impression of watching a movie is the combination of cinemas and popcorn. However, during the pandemic period, ‘watching a movie’ has become a leisure time enjoyed with family from the comfort of your lounge with homemade cuisines. This year, the festival will be launching Live Opening Night Banquet! on the 16 September 9.00 pm. We welcome movie fans to bring out their best homemade cuisines and enjoy the celebration through live streaming of conversation and special guests.
Additionally, on the 23 September 9.00 pm, the festival will host a panel discussion with Director Lau Kek Huat (The Tree Remembers) and Director Wei Yu-Chen (The Way Home: The Call of the Azanljan), to speak about their journeys of filming process, and the historical values of land and human rights.
Taiwan Film Festival in Australia is profoundly funded by City of Sydney and Spotlight Taiwan and would like to acknowledge the generosity of our sponsors Ettason Ltd Pty, Taiwanese Chamber of Commerce in Australia, TECO Pty Ltd, and Australian Taiwanese Friendship Association, as well as the individuals and volunteers who have made this festival possible.
Ticket Prices:
Single Ticket 12AUD
No Time for Feature Films Pass 60 AUD
Feature Films Pass 100 AUD
Hardcore Pass 150AUD