Taiwan Film Festival Edinburgh is proud to announce the full programme for its third edition, featuring a packed line-up of Taiwanese films that will be screening between 15 and 20 October in both Summerhall and Everyman Edinburgh cinemas. This year’s programme offers a unique glimpse into Taiwan’s rich film heritage: from short films to documentaries as well as classics both old and new, many of which will be having their UK premiere as part of this year’s festival. This year’s 6 features and 5 shorts are united under the theme of the (un)Usuals, seeking to shine a light on the people, events, relationships that usually fall outside of the mainstream experience.
Tickets are now available to book on taiwanfilmfestival.org.uk. All screenings are priced at £8 and £6 concession.
In recent years, there has been a tangible upsurge in attention towards Taiwanese cinema throughout global film communities. This growing but still nascent interest served as a reminder that much of Taiwanese film is still overlooked in contemporary film discussions, and thus Taiwan Film Festival Edinburgh was created with the purpose of championing this often under-appreciated yet meaningful film culture.
The first of 3 strands that make up this year’s programme is Shorts: Being Alone Together, a programme inspired by the famous quote from British poet John Donne, “no man is an island”. This collation of shorts questions that assertion, diving into the distance between people that can be felt in many ways, and how connections can be reforged despite that. The strand features two shorts from Taiwan such as the beautiful stop-motion animation Where Am I Going and the deeply emotional Can You Hear Me? following a person witnessing his family dealing with his death. The strand also features films from outside Taiwan including Siren from Japanese director Nobuyuki Miyake and A Taxi of Coldness from South Korean director Joonha Kim.
The second strand Doc Replay: Portraits presents two documentaries, each charting one person’s life as they navigate their goals and struggles. When The Dawn Comes shines a light on the story of Chi Chia-Wei, the first person in Taiwan to publicly come out as gay and who also dedicated his life to raising awareness around AIDS. The Catch is a fascinating portrait of the camaraderie and hardship experienced by indigenous nomadic eel-catching fishermen, as they set up camp along Taiwan’s Lanyang River.
The third and final strand of this year’s programme is a retrospective of the complex and hugely influential career of Chen Yi-Wen. Chen played many a supporting role in Taiwanese films and TV before and went on to become a celebrated playwright, screenwriter and director in his own right. The retrospective features a hand-picked selection of films from Chen’s acting career including The Man From Island West, Growing Pains, Increasing Echo and Treat or Trick. Audiences can also look forward to enjoying The Cabbie (2000), directed by Chen which won him the Grand Jury Award at the Golden Horse Awards.
Liu Kuan-Ping, Chief Curator at the Festival, said: “Although streaming at home is a comfortable and convenient way to enjoy cinema, I still prefer sitting in the dark with other people, people who enjoy the big screen experience as much as I do. I am so glad that we can meet our audiences in person this year!”
Talking about this year’s theme, Kuan-Ping reflected: “People think of Asian cultures as collective cultures. You are told not to stand out, not to be different, since childhood. We want to show people that being unusual is not all that bad.”
Head of Taipei Representative Office UK Cultural Division, Dr Chen Pin-Chuan said: “It is great to see Taiwan Film Festival Edinburgh coming back with once again a well selected programme that showcases the diverse and thriving cinematography of Taiwan. We bring the films back to cinemas this year and encourage audiences in Edinburgh to join us as we celebrate this first edition of fully in-person Taiwan Film Festival Edinburgh.”
