The first ever ‘Taiwan Film Festival Edinburgh’ kicks off digitally on 18 September with an ambitious programme of features, documentaries and shorts charting the fascinating history of Taiwanese cinema starting with the 60s plus Q&A sessions and panel discussion presented in collaboration with the Scottish Documentary Institute and Cinetopia.
With half of the programme UK premieres, access to the Festival is free (up to 400 users per film and limited to UK only). Audiences are encouraged to pre-book their free access now by registering at https://online.taiwanfilmfestival.org.uk/
The Festival presents 7 distinctive strands to guide the audiences through six decades of Taiwanese cinema.
- Taiwanese Hokkien-Language Cinema presents three classic titles from the 60s, including The Bride Who Has Returned From Hell and Six Suspects.
- A Borrowed Hong Kong, the Imagined China in Taiwan, and Trans-regional Cinema focuses on the 70s when Taiwan, then seen as Free China, gave Hong Kong filmmakers the financial support and creative freedom that Shaw Brothers, the most influential “right-wing studio” in British Hong Kong since mid-60s, could not offer. Drawing on the complicated cultural relationship between Taiwan, China and Hong Kong in the Cold War, this section presents the iconic Four Moods, an anthology film including an episode directed by legendary King Hu.
- Melodrama Divas is devoted to films based on romance novels by Chiung Yao, possibly the most influential writer of this genre in the Chinese-speaking world.
- Starting a new era, Taiwan New Cinema and Its Legacy offers a fascinating insight into the realism-based world of the new generation of filmmakers of the 80s and then post-2000, including such titles as The Sandwich Man – the hallmark of Taiwanese cinema.
- Highlighting the contribution of immigrant filmmakers to Taiwanese cinema, Midi Z Selection presents work of the celebrated, Myanmar-born director whose both beautifully crafted and hard-hitting films gained him following all over the world.
- Docs: Exploring Diversity in Pursuing the Taiwanese Identity gives voice to indigenous people and so-called New Immigrants as it examines Taiwanese identity. Lastly,
- Shorts: The unusual usual presents a selection of short films from the last decade which have won praise for their keen examination of the ‘normal’ and fresh approach to dissecting issues in modern Taiwan society.
Further details, in The Edinburgh Reporter, of what’s in store can be found here, here and here
For more information please visit www.taiwanfilmfestival.org.uk #TaiwanFFE
