Our good friends at the Taiwan Film Festival are back for a third year! With a whopping 19 titles for 2020, they have shifted the festival online to accomodate a safer viewing environment during this current global crisis.
Running from 9 to 30 July, Festival Director Benson Wu says that the aim is to “challenge stereotypes of Taiwan” and to focus on overlooked aspects of Taiwanese society.
Case in point are a diverse collection of headliners, from John Hsu’s horror/thriller DETENTION (返校) to cult classic in the making THE GANGS, THE OSCARS AND THE WALKING DEAD (江湖無難事).
Vera Chen and Kek Huat Lau’s BOLUOMI is another film set to challenge some assumptions about Taiwanese cinema. Exploring some dark chapters in Malaysian history as well, it’s a co-production with a ‘stranger in a strange land’ narrative.
Straight from International Film Festival Rotterdam, SYNAPSES (那個我最親愛的陌生人) by award-winning director Chang Tso-Chi (Thanatos, Drunk) is described as a “visually stunning family drama exploring dementia.”
From the documentary stream, recommendations include RUN FOR DREAM (出發), following part of ultramarathon athlete Tommy Chen’s 10-year journey to winning the 4 Deserts Race Series.
There’s a special focus on director Ya-Chuan Hsiao this year as well. Along with his most recent work, FATHER TO SON (范保德), there will be a retrospective of Mirror Image and Taipei Exchange. These will be joined by a collection of modern Taiwanese classics from the early 2010s, including GF*BF (2012) by Yang Ya-Che, a film co-presented by Queer Screen.
With a short film competition, classics, and feature/documentary programs, you have from now until the end of July to explore the best of what Taiwan’s cinema has to offer.
Films will be available to stream individually ($2.99) or as a package ($35) at www.taiwanfilmfestival.org.au. So pitter patter: let’s get at ‘er!
Read more coverage of Taiwanese films from festivals and new releases. Plus go beyond Taiwan with more film from Asia in Focus.
