The Stolen Bicycle, by WU Ming Yi, adapted into short film by Chromatic Aberration Production

In 2024, the festival launched its first-ever IP Adaptation competition, with a distinguished jury panel featuring Colin Cairnes, Kylie du Fresne, Benjamin Law, and Taiwanese actress Esther LIU. The winning team, led by co-directors and writers Joseph McKenna and Freya Xu, will present their adaptation of The Stolen Bicycle, based on the award-winning novel by WU Ming-Yi, originally published in 2017. The project is now officially entering production and is set to begin filming in mid-2025.

The Stolen Bicycle follows a young boy and his community’s response to the theft of his vintage bicycle, weaving together themes of traditional Chinese morality, vigilante justice, and the loss of childhood innocence.

“I first got involved with the Taiwan Film Festival in Australia as a volunteer during their Adelaide screenings. I chose to volunteer because I’ve long been interested in Taiwanese films—Hou Hsiao-Hsien’s A City of Sadness was a key inspiration behind my own short film about Hong Kong, When The City Fell Silent,” said Joseph McKenna. “It was while shooting that short film in Hong Kong that I met Freya, with whom I pitched The Stolen Bicycle to TWFF. It just so happened that Freya had read the novel as part of a book club and was interested in adapting it into a screenplay. So together, we wrote one and created a storyboard. The pitching competition felt like the perfect opportunity for us.”

The Stolen Bicycle crew introduction: 

Joseph McKenna 

Role on Stolen Bicycle: Director/Writer @caberration

Joseph McKenna is a British-Australian filmmaker. He studied a Bachelor of Philosophy at KU Leuven in Belgium, and a Juris Doctor at the University of Sydney. He went on exchange to the University of Hong Kong where he made the short film When the City Fell Silent (2025) together with Freya Xu. Joseph co-founded Chromatic Aberration Productions in 2022. He directed the short film Forgiving (2023) which was a finalist at the Sony Catchlight Film Festival in Sydney. For his work on Forgiving Joseph won the Best Director award at the Melbourne Cineverse Film Festival. 

Freya Xu

Role on Stolen Bicycle: Director/Writer/Script Supervisor @freya_44

Freya Xu is a Chinese writer, theatre director, and photographer. She studied engineering at Zhejiang University, going on to study her master’s at the University of Hong Kong. In Hong Kong she met Joseph McKenna and together they filmed the Cantonese short film When the City Fell Silent (2025) which Freya co-wrote. During her time in Hong Kong, she also directed a Mandarin adaptation of Out at Sea, a play by Slawomir Mrozek originally written in Polish. She has also published numerous books in Chinese. 

Thomas McKenna

Role on Stolen Bicycle: Producer @thomasmckenna_

Thomas McKenna studied a Bachelor of Media (Journalism) at the University of Adelaide while working as a freelance writer, before making his way into filmmaking. As part of the team at Chromatic Aberration Productions, Thomas has been involved in writing, sound editing, and producing roles. In 2024, he co-directed and produced a documentary short about Vietnam before producing the short film When the City Fell Silent (2025).

Sebastian Tomlinson

Role on Stolen Bicycle: Executive Producer @sebtomlinson

Sebastian Tomlinson is a Greek-Australian producer and managing director of Chromatic Aberration Productions. He studied Health and Medical Sciences at the University of Adelaide. He has been executive producer on Chromatic Aberration’s previous works, including Forgiving (2023), Vietnam Story (2024) and When the City Fell Silent (2025).

Tomiya Hills

Role on Stolen Bicycle: Cinematographer

Tomiya Hills is a filmmaker based in South Australia. After graduating from the Bachelor of Creative Arts at Flinders University, Hills studied film at MAPS Film School. During this time, Hills developed an interest in cinematography. He showcased his directing and cinematography skills in his solo short Vending Machine (2020), which he filmed on location in Japan. Hills has since worked on the Stan Original show Thou Shalt Not Steal (2024), and Adelaide Film Festival Selections Red Earth (2023) and Emotion is Dead (2023). In 2022 he co-founded Chromatic Aberration Productions and went on to shoot Forgiving (2023) which won him the best cinematography award at the Port Adelaide Diversity and Inclusion Festival. He has also shot the documentary Vietnam Story (2024) on location in Vietnam and worked on When the City Fell Silent (2025) as an editor and colourist. He is currently shooting the feature film Orange Boy (TBA) in South Australia.

This competition is supported by Taiwan Creative Content Agency and The Stolen Bicycle adaptation film rights handled by The Grayhawk Agency.