Taiwan Film Festival UK 3-14 April 2019 by Boating Island

Taiwan Film Festival UK

Katthveli SeaMonster b. 15th July 1987 They called me the Cat-Whale, I rarely succeeded in the attacks. Fishermen laughed at me. I’m still here. The world we live in now, the many things you see, read and hear from the media, news, the neighbours, even friends and families, are not real. What is real? Many people say I'm not real, or that I’m invisible to them. Until one day, when they meet me in the big waves, they see me with their own eyes. They will never be able to erase me from their memories. They go back home to tell their stories, and the stories carry on down to the next generations. Whatever is real or unreal, we need to keep our eyes open, keep being curious, and discovering those lives we aren't familiar with…yet. And drink bubble tea like me, of course. In my festival programme you will find many lives, many creatures and many worlds which you won’t be familiar with yet. See them with your own eyes. The stories will carry on.. 19th March 2019, Katthveli SeaMonster

About The Festival The Taiwan Film Festival is coming to the UK for the very first time. The Festival celebrates Taiwan’s long and tempestuous history and diverse cultural heritage through the uncensored lens of independent Taiwanese filmmakers. The Festival runs from 3 – 14 April, with a programme of films showing at Curzon Soho, DocHouse at Curzon Bloomsbury, the Starr Cinema at Tate Modern and an exciting virtual reality (VR) pop-up cinema at Asia House in central London, in partnership with Art Cinema. The Festival opens with the 1967 classic martial arts western Dragon Inn, an 2

influence for many subsequent films of the same genre, including Tsai Ming-Liang’s Goodbye, Dragon Inn –which is also being shown as part of a retrospective of Tsai’s work, chosen by the director himself. As one of the most lauded "Second New Wave" film directors in Taiwanese cinema, the Festival is proud to include Tsai’s selection of fiction feature films and shorts being shown at the Tate Modern’s Starr Cinema, as well as the UK premiere of his VR film, The Deserted at a specially-designed VR space at Asia House. Director Tsai will also take part in post-screening Q&A’s, as well as lead a filmmaking masterclass.

Other highlights of the Festival include the screening of the commercially acclaimed horror franchise, The Tag-Along and The Tag-Along 2 which are each followed by Q&A’s with the series screenwriter Chien Shih-keng, and films from eight female directors including Heather Tsui, Singing Chen, Huang Hui-chen, Hsin Yin Sung, Ado Kaliting Pacidal, Rina B. Tsou, Lin Han, and Shake. We are delighted that Chen Singing & Huang Hui-chen will also participate in Q&As after their film screenings. At the other end of the spectrum we have FATHER, a story filmed over a decade about the traditional art of puppetry and the difficulties the puppet master experiences in passing down a dying art though the generations. Director Yang Li-Chou will attend a post-screening Q&A. The Festival Closing Gala will be a collection of documentary films focusing on the Indigenous Traditional Territory Movement, introduce by activist, musician Panai Kusui with live music

performance together with Ado Kaliting Pacidal. From the internationally renowned to the up and coming, the successful franchise to the cultural treasure, our programme showcases the breadth and quality of Taiwan’s cinematic talent, and has something for everyone to enjoy. The Taiwan Film Festival is a collaborative effort between FilmTaiwan and the Cultural Division of the Taipei Representative Office in the UK to showcase the talented and distinct cinematic voice of Taiwan through a programme of classic and new independent films. It also aims to provide opportunities for Taiwanese filmmakers and producers to showcase their works to Icelandic and UK distributors with the goal of creating interactions between the countries. We are indebted to our partners Tate, Curzon and Art Cinema and our many sponsors and supporters for being as excited to host Taiwanese films and filmmakers in the UK as we are!

So ho

zo n ur

So ho

Long Time No Sea

zo n

Mon 8 6.30pm

+ Q&A with writer Chien Shih-Keng

+ Skype Q&A with actor Shang-Ho Huang UK Premiere

Sun 7 5pm

S Ta tar te r C M ine od m er a n S Ta tar te r C M ine od m er a n

UK Premiere

35mm print + Q&A with director Tsai Ming-Liang

Masterclass with Tsai Ming-Liang

Afternoon UK Premiere

C Bl urz oo on m sb ur

Wed 10 6.15pm

+ Light

+ Q&A with director Tsai Ming-Liang UK Premiere

Thu 11 8.30pm

B D ert C oc ha Bl urz Ho oo on us e m sb ur y

Sun 7 2pm

a em n in der rC o ar e M t S at T

Reality Check: Taiwanese Short Films

A selection of Taiwanese experimental short films UK Premiere

Fri 12 9.15pm

B D ert C oc ha Bl urz Ho oo on us e m sb ur y

Sat 6 7pm

The Skywalk is Gone No No Sleep + Autumn Days

S Ta tar te r C M ine od m er a n

Sat 6 4pm

Your Face

S Ta tar te r C M ine od m er a n

Fri 5 8pm

Tue 9 9pm

C Bl urz oo on m sb u

+ Q&A with writer Chien Shih-Keng

Sat 13 2pm

B D ert C oc ha Bl urz Ho oo on us e m sb ur y

So ho zo n ur

The Tag-Along 2

Fri 5 6.20pm

360Â° cinematic 8K VR film Specially-designed pop-up cinema with HTCâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s world-class Theatre Management System (TMS) UK Premiere

+ Q&A with director Yang Li-Chou & producer Michelle Chu UK Premiere

So ho zo n ur

The Tag-Along

The Deserted

Father

Digitally restored in 4K + Intro

Thu 4 6.30pm

Mon 8 2.30pm

V C RP As ine op ia m a -U p H ou se

TFFUK Opening Film : Dragon Inn

zo n

Wed 3 6.15pm

3-8 April

Program

So ho

April

Sun 14 2-4.25 pm

n u zo sb ur om C lo B

God Man Dog

+ Q&A with Director Chen Singing

Small Talk

+ Q&A with director Huang Hui-Chen

On The Happiness Road

Rare animation feature film from Taiwan UK premiere

The Walker

+ Q&A with director Chen Singing UK premiere

TFFUK Closing Gala:

ONGOING Indigenous Movement : the Past, the Present to the Future + Live Music

Ticket / Venue Info

Tsai Ming-Liang at Tate Modern

Tsai Ming-Liang: The Deserted TATE Modern STARR CINEMA Level 1, Natalie Bell Building Tate Modern, Bankside, London SE1 9TG

The Deserted VR Pop-Up Cinema ASIA HOUSE GALLERY, 63 New Cavendish Street, London W1G 7LP

Independent Filmmaking in Taiwan CURZON SOHO 99 Shaftesbury Avenue, London W1D 5DY CURZON BLOOMSBURY / DOC HOUSE The Brunswick Centre, London WC1N 1AW

Book Tickets Online

https://filmtaiwan.org/taiwan-film-festival-uk-2019/

Tsai Ming-Liang is one of the most prominent film directors of the new cinema movement in Taiwan. In 1994, his film Vive L’ amour was awarded the Golden Lion award at the Venice Film Festival, and this helped establish a place for him in the world of international film. In 2009, Face became the first film to be included in the collection of the Louvre Museum’s “Le Louvre s'offre aux cineastes.” It has since become the benchmark for films venturing into the world of art galleries. In recent years, Tsai Ming-Liang has also moved on to installation art. His works have been well-received in Venice, Shanghai, Nagoya. Since 2012, he has been working on a long project to film Lee Kang-Sheng's

slow walk, cooperating with various cities and organisations. His 10th full-length feature "Stray Dogs" (2013) was awarded the Grand Jury Prize at the 70th Venice Film Festival. In 2014, he presented the critically acclaimed theatre work The Monk from Tang Dynasty in arts festivals in Brussels, Vienna, Gwangju and Taipei. That same year, Tsai made history by bringing his movie Stray Dogs at the Museum at MoNTUE, the Museum of National Taipei University of Education. In 2017, Tsai made first feature length VR film, The Deserted, which lead him to film Your Face the year in 2018 which are both going to premiere in Taiwan Film Festival UK this April. 7

Starr Cinema at Tate Modern | 7pm, Friday 5 April

YOUR FACE

Light

Dir. Tsai Ming-Liang

Dir. Tsai Ming-Liang Director’s statement Last year, I made a VR film. Since it was VR, there was no composition in the traditional sense and no close-ups as well. After I made the film, I had a sudden desire to film close-up shots. I decided to make a film made up of only close-ups.

About the film As I searched the streets of Taipei for faces to film, some verses began to appear in my mind. I wrote them down: There is some light, there is a story. Your face tells of the passage of time and places you have journeyed.

Hsiao-kang will be in it, of course, together with a few others. So I went out to the streets in search of the faces I wanted. In two months, I found more than ten of them. One after another, I lit them with extra attention, as if they were cinematic compositions.

In your eyes, there is a tinge of confusion and sadness.

Not long after, I met Ryuichi Sakamoto by chance at the beach in Venice.

There is some light, there is a story. Your face tells of love and the places it hides in.

After I pieced together those big close-ups that I had filmed,

In your eyes, there is a sparkle and some darkness. This is the meaning of the film.

I wrote him a letter and asked if he’d have a look at it. He agreed. One month later, he sent me some audio files. I couldn’t be sure what exactly I heard.

About the film

Director’s statement

Zhongshan Hall was built in Taipei in 1936. It was designed by Ide Kaoru, the Chief Architect of the then Governor-General’s Office to serve as a public auditorium. It was here that the Japanese forces in Taiwan formally surrendered at the end of WWII in 1945, ending 51 years of Japanese occupation in Taiwan. Today, Zhongshan Hall is 83 years old.

The very first Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival was held here at Zhongshan Hall. During my university days, I volunteered as a ticket seller in order to watch films for free. Many years later, I received the top award at the Taipei Film Festival in an award ceremony held here as well. I have also run a coffeehouse here and often held small screenings of classic films during that time. Last year, I shot my film, Your Face, inside Guangfu Auditorium. The film was composed of thirteen big close-ups. Each of those thirteen faces was filled with the passage of time. Now, I am given a chance to film Zhongshan Hall again. I switched off all the lights and allowed the warm winter sun to shine on her face.

Sakamoto told me politely that I could use it in any way I wanted. Or I could simply ignore it. I was thrilled by it. It felt like an adventure.

2018 | Taiwan | 76min | UK Premiere + Q&A with director Tsai Ming-Liang

After more than twenty years, I finally made a film with a musical score.

2018 | Taiwan | 18min | UK Premiere 9

Starr Cinema at Tate Modern | 4pm, Saturday 6 April

The Skywalk Is Gone

No No Sleep

Dir. Tsai Ming-Liang

About the film This short film is an extension of the director's 2001 feature, WHAT TIME IS IT THERE? Shiang-Chyi is wandering about Taipei Main Station. Suddenly, a woman with a big suitcase crosses the street dangerously and she decides to follow her. They are stopped by a policeman to check IDs. But the woman refuses, arguing that she used to cross the street by taking the skywalk and it is not her fault now the skywalk is gone. The skywalk is gone, as if it never really exists. Why? Shiang-Chyi confuses. Were there 2002 | Taiwan | 22min 10

supposed to be a skywalk and a she watch vendor, Hsiao Kang, whom met before? Did all these never really happen? Or, is it the blazing sun driving her memory away? She is obsessed by the idea to find the watch vendor. She is looking for him without even feeling his close presence. The young man is just passing her...

About the film

Director’s statement

Just an outdoor life drawing Of Hsiao Kang’s night stroll in Tokyo Winter night, cold Public bath Smooth, glittering like a baby is Masanobu’s body

I was invited to make Walker in 2012. After the screening in Hong Kong International Film Festival, it appeared on YouKu, and was trashed by net users all over China. As it was only foreseeable nowadays, I wasn’t keen on responding, but muttered to myself: Hsiao Kang’s slow walk didn’t get in anyone’s way, did he? Who would’ve thought, that in a matter of two years, Hsiao Kang would continue to take on the role of a walker, to walk through six projects around the corners throughout the world; that it would be well received by established film festivals and museums alike.

Can’t sleep Sauna room Hsiao Kang’s sweat falls like raindrops In the water, as well as the fog The transient encounter

In 2015, I was invited to make a short film again by Hong Kong International Film Festival. Without thinking, I did another one. The walk took place in Tokyo. As to when this project will end. It all depends on how much longer Hsiao Kang is willing to walk. 2015 | Taiwan | 34min | UK Premiere 11

Starr Cinema at Tate Modern | 4pm, Saturday 6 April

Starr Cinema at Tate Modern | 7pm, Saturday 6 April

Autumn Days

Goodbye, Dragon Inn

Dir. Tsai Ming-Linag

Dir. Tsai Ming-Liang

Nogami has seen all my films, as has her best friend Jiro. They often take Hsiao Kang and I to Nogami favourite gastropub. We would wine and dine, and have a blast. We give each other big hugs before we say goodbyes. Every time we come to Japan, it’s the same. Twenty years, it has been. Her hair is now all grey. Her back is more humped. But her head is clear as can be. One day, on the spur of the moment, I said I want to film her. She said to me, squinting, “Then you’d better hurry, time is running out.” When I actually approached her on filming, she kept telling me not to come.

“Why do you want to film an old wrinkly lady?” “Don’t film me. There’s really nothing to film.” “I’ve never had someone film me.” “Nogami, I’m not someone.” “I am your lover.” “OK, OK, OK, Tsai-san is my last boyfriend.” Giggles came from the other side of the phone. An autumn afternoon, we were at Toho Studios. The sun was playing hide and seek that day. I filmed her and Hsiao Kang. I wanted to preserve her portrait, as a gift to Japan and children of the future.

The last projection before an old movie theatre shuts its doors forever. A young Japanese man runs into the theatre for refuge from the pouring rain. The theatre appears empty, void of life, yet there are other presences than just the few spectators... The crippled female ticket clerk and the young projectionist have never been able to meet, even though they both work in the same theatre, day after day. Since tonight is her last chance, the pretty clerk wants to share her peach-shaped fortune cake with the

2015 | Taiwan | 24min | UK Premiere 12

2003 | Taiwan | 35mm Print | 82min | Q&A + Q&A with director Tsai Ming-Liang

handsome projectionist. But when she stops by the projection room, he is still not there. She refuses to leave the theatre without one last look at him. She searches for him through the labyrinth-like passageways of the old movie house... The gigantic screen glows with DRAGON INN, a hit swordplay movie 36 years ago. The Japanese guy notices a couple men who look very much like the actors on screen. Older now, sitting in the dark and empty theatre. Watching their own movie, reminiscing, mourning... Are these persons real? Or are they spirits who refuse to leave? 13

Starr Cinema at Tate Modern | 5pm, Sunday 7 April

Starr Cinema at Tate Modern | 2pm, Sunday 7 April

Afternoon

Masterclass with Tsai Ming-Liang

Dir. Tsai Ming-Liang

About the film At the ruins, in the afternoon The conversation between a dying man and his most beloved person Director’s statement All my works came about like accidents Some asked what made me the kind of director I am Honestly, I have no idea When asked what else I am going to do next I have no answer to that either The publisher in Taiwan invited me to publish a book about the movie Stray Dogs To put in more content I invited Lee for a talk He usually doesn't talk much After living together for twenty years I really wanted to know what’s going on in his mind Still, it turned out that I did most of the talking that afternoon

Tsai Ming-Liang as an artist, filmmaker, discusses his installations and performance in relation to his film practice. A discovery of how he thinks about making work for different contexts. His approach, always seems serendipitous how he comes across his characters or materials that become films or become art installation. Approaching Hsiao Kang as a performer, approaching portrait films as life drawings, his film descriptions as poetry…light, colour, architecture…it’s all so rich together, in this masterclass Tsai Ming-Liang will share how his language/approach is translated or re-conceptualised across the contexts of his work in cinema/gallery/theatre.

But if it weren’t for him I wouldn't be here, doing what I do There wouldn't be any movies How this recording turned out to be a movie is also purely accidental

2015 | Taiwan | 137min | UK premiere 14

VR 360 Cinematic video at Asian House | 3-8 April

Tsai Ming-Liang: The Deserted 360° cinematic 8K VR film Specially-designed pop-up cinema with HTC’s world-class Theatre Management System (TMS) Dir. Tsai Ming-Liang One of the most celebrated film directors in Taiwan, Tsai MingLiang's first VR production The Deserted tells the story of a man who lives in a ruined house in the mountains. Visited by the ghost of a mother and a bride where the only companion is a fish...

4 – 8 April 7 screenings daily except 8 April (Last screening on 8 April is at 5pm) Press screening: 3 April

Screening Time 11.00am-12.00pm 12.30pm-01.30pm 02:00pm-03:00pm 03:30pm-04:30pm 05.00pm-06.00pm 06:30pm-07:30pm 08.00pm-09.00pm

Venue: Asia House, 63 New Cavendish St, Marylebone, London W1G 7LP 2018 | Taiwan | 55min | UK Premiere 16

Opening Film at Curzon Soho | 6.15pm, Wednesday 3rd April

Curzon Soho | 6.30pm, Thursday 4th April

DRAGON INN

THE TAG-ALONG

Dir. Wri. King Hu

Dir. Cheng Wei-Hao

Dragon Inn is a 1967 wuxia film written and directed by King Hu. One of the greatest swordsplay films of all time, it has inspired a number of film makers of martial arts and other genres, including Tsai Min-Liang win his FIPRESCI prize-winning film ‘Goodbye Dragon Inn’. The Eunuch of the Emperor has ordered the commander of his army condemned to death for betrayal and insurrection. The commander's family have been murdered to cut off his bloodline, but his two youngest children, a son and a daughter, have been expelled from the empire to the outlands in an attempt to draw out the commander’s confidant and adviser. The Eunuch sends his ultra-secret Black Arrow Troop to assassinate the two remaining children and the advisor. The ambush is to be carried

out at the Inn Of Dragon's Gate at the border, but the Eunuch had not counted on the intervention of a band of expert swordsman. This film is a masterpiece of martial arts swords-play and speaks the tune of "The Swordsman" and the "Zatoichi" films. A must see for fans of classic Asian cinema.

1967, Digitally restored in 4K in 2013 | Taiwan | Mandarin | 111min + Introduction

Wri. Chien Shih-Keng

The Tag-Along is the first in a horror trilogy written by Chien Shih-Keng adapted from a well-known Taiwanese urban legend, "The Little Girl in Red". Property agent Wei lives with his grandmother, but one day she suddenly disappears without a reason, and yet the routines of the house still continues as usual - the laundry is done, the house is well-cleaned as usual and even Wei's breakfast remains prepared every morning.

camera, where a little girl in red was tagging behind his grandmother whileshe was hiking. When Wei's grandmother finally returns, Wei goesmissing instead. Wei's girlfriend, Yi-chung gradually discovers that all these mysteries might be connected tothe urban legend "The Little Girl in Red", and that the worst is yet to come.

A clueless Wei then starts to search for his grandmother until he finds an unsettling video in his neighbour's 2015 | Taiwan | Mandarin | 93min Q&A with writer Chien Shih-Keng

Curzon Soho | 6.20pm, Friday 5th April

THE TAG-ALONG 2 Dir. Cheng Wei-Hao

2017 | Taiwan | Mandarin | 108min Q&A with writer Chien Shih-Keng

Wri. Chien Shih-Keng

The second in the Tag-Along trilogy from writer Chien Shih-Keng picks up where the first film left off. Social worker Shu-Fen goes in search of her missing teenage daughter Ya-Ting after her sudden disappearance. She is told that her daughter was last seen in the company of a girl in red, leading her to begin to unravel the mystery behind the girl’s disappearance. She meets the mysterious Mei-hua, who imprisons her own daughter inside her house covered with papers with spells written all over, and finds the missing and pregnant Yi-chun in an abandoned hospital. Together, the

Curzon Soho | 2.30pm, Monday 8th April

trio return to the Red Forest to rescue Ya-ting, who disappeared in the first Tag-Along film.

FATHER Dir. Yang Li-Chou

This is a documentary film about the art and the inheritance of Taiwanese traditional puppetry and the relationship between father and son. Chen Hsi-huang is the eldest son of the puppet master Li Tian-lu. In 2009, at the age of 79, Master Chen left the Li family and set up his own troupe, which soon earned recognition all over the world. Nevertheless, this traditional art declined rapidly and Chen found no one to pass on his great skills… The production of "Father" lasted for ten years. It not only recorded the inheritance mission of the

eighty-year-old elders, but also explored the conflicts between the two generations. This film shows the master’s intelligent skills to give the puppet life on the big screen, trying to inject the unique charm of the traditional puppet show so as to bring it back to ordinary people. Over the ten year shoot, due to control of language and diversity in ventertainment, they saw the dying of this traditional puppetry culture. The film says goodbye to it in the most glorious way.

2018 | Taiwan | Taiwanese, Mandarin | 99min | UK Premiere + Q&A with Dir. Yang Li-Chou, Prod. Michelle Chu

Curzon Soho | 6.30pm, Monday 8th April

Curzon Bloomsbury | 6.15pm, Wednesday 10th April

Long Time No Sea

God Ma Dog

Dir. Tsui Heather

Dir. Chen Singing

Filmed on a South Pacific island, Heather Tsui's impressive debut based on her own real-life experiences, depicts a boy's courage and his quest for self discovery. Raised by his grandma alone, MaNaWei lives a frugal and simple life in Orchid Island, an island near Taiwan. His greatest hope is to see his absent father again, who is working in Taiwan. Yu Zhang-xun, a young teacher from Taipei, is assigned to MaNaWei's school in Orchid Island. Feeling isolated and bored, he desperately wants to go back to Taiwan. To their mutual surprise, they find the National

Aboriginal Dance Competition is a great chance to go to Taiwan. As Yu undertakes the responsibility to attend the competition, he discovers the talent of MaNaWei, and puts him at the centre of performance. But he discoverd a big obstacle for the preparation: the children wouldn't want to wear their traditional costume to perform. The unexpected difficulties make the preparation even harder, and MaNaWei is also nervous -perhaps he can finally meet his father again...

A car accident involving a stray dog connects unlikely characters with life-changing results. A hand model caught in an estranged middle-class marriage tries to recover from the loss of her baby, but neither religion nor extramarital affairs can help her. A poor aboriginal couple resort to God to get rid of their alcohol problems, transport top-class peaches to the city and hope to reunite with their daughters. A one-legged truck driver collects abandoned deity statues hoping to be blessed with a new prosthetic. Some of them will face a surprising turn in life, others will be caught in

new dilemmas. This multi-character rhapsody evokes the pluralism of community, class and religion, as well as their conflicts, in contemporary Taiwan. Contrasting values permeate the film: deities are reduced to objects worshipped to gain fortune, and expensive peaches discarded after a commercial shoot are poor peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s only source of income. Diverse characters with different social positions and life experiences, are nevertheless united as wandering minds in search of spiritual redemption amid the impermanence of life.of women in Taiwan.

2007 | Taiwan | Drama | Mandarain, Bunun, Taiwanese | 119min Q&A with Director Chen Singing

Curzon Bloomsbury | 9pm, Tuesday 9th April | UK Premiere

Reality Check : Taiwanese Short Films

Blossom

Dir. Lin Han

2017 | Drama | Mandarin | 25min

Our Suite de Danses

Artist, Dir. SHAKE

2016 | Art | Mandarin, Pangcah | 7min

Taiwan’s unique landscape and geopolitical history serves as a theme for The Subduction Zone. Located at the subduction zone where the Eurasian Plate converges with the Philippine Sea Plate, the island of Taiwan has developed a unique topography as a result of the downwelling tectonic activity. Similarly, Taiwan’s position at the boundaries of different political forces within the global geography, and the hidden forces exerted by political, economic, cultural, and ideological plates, have shaped its national identity. Our Suite de Danses the 3rd chapter of The Subduction Zone, Shake invited these participant-students to share: Songs make them recall their childhood? Songs remind them of their parent’s generation? Which songs do they learn in school? They appropriate the military parade as the narrative form and filmed at the Jili Badlands which caused by the subduction process.

A life of a person is an endless search of one’s sense of belonging. What kind of family can provide a complete belonging if one can choose? In Taiwan, it is already tough for those who wants to create a family with a child of one's own due to the economic and social consensus. Not to mention for the marginalised transgendered community, there is a great revolution of equalisation that has not yet succeeded. Cherry identified herself as a drag queen. Before the show, she found out her boyfriend had been cheating sleeping with another girl for awhile. Pulled herself together she walked on her way to work, she met with an abandoned baby. When she was performing sparkly on the stage with her close sister, Lena, they discovered something weird about this baby…

The Glamorous Boys of Tang Dir. Su Hui-yu 2018 | Art | 15min

Dir. Ying Liang 2017 | Taiwan, Hong Kong | Mandarin | 25min

This is how a Chinese mother is made. A trip. A third land, Taiwan. An exiled daughter.

In Trance We Gaze Dir. Chen Singing 2018 | Doc | Taiwanese, Mandarin | 20min

Iceland premiere

In artist Su Hui-yu’s signature style, a moody slow-motion pan captures a wild, glitter-scattered,v blood-splattered orgy during the Tang dynasty. The film is an invocation of scenes from 1985 Taiwanese cult film Tang Chao Chi Li that only existed in the screenplay, unfilmed until now due to what can only be imagined as budgetary restrictions and censorship pressures during the Martial Law era. Presented without narrative context, the orgiastic murder scene plays out like an unsettling nightmare. Su Hui-Yu has re-created The Glamorous Boys of Tang to call together the differently gendered bodies and subcultures of Taiwan's diverse society.

Taiwan Province of China Dir. Fu Yue 2018 | Taiwan | Mandarin | 24min

Under constant regimes of discipline and incorporation, rituals, faiths, bodies, and the position of man and god all trend towards uprootedness, where we lose our links to the land and to others. Time is dissected into ever more infinitesimal parts. Those who could not keep up appear within the gaze of a stopped frame. All destruction and rebirth meet at this point in search of a safe corner. 24

As someone who grew up in a family that wasn’t originally from Taiwan, I didn’t identify with ‘Taiwan’ at first. With the term ‘Taiwan Province’ now consigned to the dustbin of history, I aim to review my past from the vantage point of one’s ‘province of origin’ 25

Bertha DocHouse at Curzon Bloomsbury | 8.30pm, Thursday 11th April

Curzon Bloomsbury | 9.15pm, Friday 12th April

SMALL TALK

On The Happiness Road

Dir. Huang Hui-Chen

Wri. Dir. Sung Hsin-Yin

"A few simple questions spark a series of talks, which reveal some things that neither my mother nor I are sure we’re ready to face." Anu is a tomboy. Although she was married off at a young age – as was customary in Taiwan in the 1970s – and had two children, she quickly divorced her violent husband and brought up her daughters alone. Since then her only relationships have been with women who, like her, earn a living as professional mourners at funerals. One of her daughters is filmmaker Hui-chen Huang. It’s considered taboo in their culture to question a mother’s unconditional love, and yet this is exactly the topic of Huang’s intimate portrait. Mother and daughter set off son a journey together into the past 26

2016 | Taiwan | Taiwanese, Mandarain | 88min Q&A with director Huang Hui-Chen

during which Anu is confronted with questions that have tormented her daughter for years. In a eries of long shots the two women discuss such topics as trust, abuse and cognisance, and yet most of these discussions end in painful silence. Shifting focus in order to plumb the depths of the depicted room, the director attempts to understand her mother by also talking to her mother’s siblings and ex-lovers. In doing so she paints a picture of changing living conditions for three generations of women in Taiwan.

Chi earned her American dream after persevering with her studies in Taiwan and moving to the US where she marries an American and becomes a US citizen. Following the death of her grandmother, a wise member of the Amis tribe who had always been her source of advice and knowledge, Chi returns to her family on Happiness Road, where she begins to feel nostalgic about her childhood and starts to contemplate the meaning of "life" and "home". What is happiness? Will Chi find her own happiness? Against a backdrop of political events in Taiwan over thirty years from the mid seventies, Hsin-Ying Sun’s film paints a moving and thoughtful picture of one woman’s quest for identity and personal fulfilment in a constantly

changing environment. What is happiness? Will Chi find her own happiness?

2017 | Taiwan | Taiwanese, Mandarain | 111min | UK Premiere 27

Bertha DocHouse at Curzon Bloomsbury | 2pm, Saturday 13th April

Closing Gala at Curzon Bloomsbury | 2-4.25pm, Sunday 14th April

THE WALKER Dir. Chen Singing Photographer

ONGOING Indigenous Movement : the Past, the Present to the Future Live Music by Panai Kusui & Ado Kaliting Pacidal

Green Team Documentary Association Taiwan, Ado Kaliting Pacidal, Panai Kusui

The deep rumble of drums opens the gate to the underworld and Sea Goddess Mazu gracefully leads the spirits towards it. A scene from the ritualistic dance piece Miroirs de Vie (2006), created by internationally renowned choreographer Lin Lee-Chen and performed by her Legend Lin Dance Theatre. Lin has devoted her life to creating work that blends modern dance with religious ritual. Drawing from her own life, Lin turns her outlook into a calming physical strength in her choreography, giving the audience a chance to glimpse her inner strength and creativity.

2014 | Taiwan | Mandarain | 147min | UK Premiere Q&A with Director Chen Singing

Filmed over the course of ten years, this documentary is a poetic expression of the persistence and creativity of Lin Lee-Chen, capturing the internationally renowned choreographer’s meditations on life itself. Exquisite images of layered cloth and the contours of dancers’ bodies during the ritualistic performances enable the audience to explore the choreography with a tactile eye, while Lin reflects on her attitudes towards dance and aesthetics. Unlike much Western dance that emphasizes speed, Lin’s oriental aesthetic emphasizes the slowness of body movement and a reflexivity towards slowness itself.

1987 - 2019 | Docs | Short Docs + LIVE Music Intro films 45min + Live Concert 45min + Q&A 25min

a selection of short documentary films depicting the past, the present and the future of the Taiwanese Indigenous movement which started in the late 1980s when martial law ended and people protested on the street and revealed the darkest lie of nuclear waste on Orchid Island. The Tao tribe have been protesting their land rights for over three decades... to millennial generations who can’t use their indigenous languages in their daily lives… lose their original names, memories and traditional lands. Filmmaker, singer and Indigenous activist Ado Kaliting Pacidal brings her latest work in progress documentary on indigenous land rights activists as seen through the central character Panai Kusui, a musician whose voice is like Mother Earth. They’ve been protesting for over 700 days in front of the President’s Hall in Taipei. The situation reflects the complex identities which co-exist on this island, Taiwan. It’s an ongoing journey, on which Taiwan Film Festival will close this year’s festival with live music and discussion – an action to be seen!

Katthveli – FilmTaiwan Katthveli – FilmTaiwan is an online magazine inviting Taiwanese writers, artists and creators from different generations to talk about Taiwanese films from their professional points of view, creating a platform for them to connect with European film critics who can also provide other thoughts on Taiwanese films. http://www.filmtaiwan.org/magazine/

Panai Kusui

Ado' Kaliting Pacidal

A singer, artist, and environmental activist, from Taitung, Panai has voiced her opinions through music on many environmental debates and issues. Panai is named “the biggest voice in Taiwan,” she is renowned as the most influential contemporary indigenous singer since HU De-Fu. Panai’s experience of wandering in cities as a youngster, facing fear and anxiety on her own, and her process of identifying as an indigenous Taiwanese, has given her work the unique characters of deep melancholy and sharp directness that speaks of loneliness and repeating self-doubt. Panai means “ear of rice” in Amis language. Panai stated: “When paddies are ripe, they no longer stand tall facing the sun, but naturally bend toward the ground. We, too, should learn humility after gaining wisdom, humbly seeking to live in harmony with nature, the land, and others.” Panai hopes that more people can collaborate in applying wisdom and kindness in protecting this island, regardless of differences in ethnic background.

An actress, television host, songwriter and singer, known for works such as her highly popular album Sun and Moon. Her elders gave her the name Ado’, which echoes the saying from the myths of the Amis (Pangcah) people that “we sing to make the gods happy.” Ado’ is proud of her Amis heritage and ardently loves her tribal home. Concerned about the threat her people face of having their culture disappear, she infuses her song writing with aboriginal colour. Ado’ has also turned her talents to acting, making her big screen debut in Lekal Sumi and Cheng Yu-chieh’s Panay, which captures an authentic view of the lives and predicaments of Taiwan’s indigenous communities when it comes to land rights. Her performance was widely praised, winning her a nomination for Best New Performer at the Golden Horse Awards in Taipei.

A Bite of Happiness – The Food and Politics in On Happiness Road text by Chen Rou-An

Directed by Sung Hsin Yin, On Happiness Road, released in January, is an original animation, rarely seen in recent years, that investigates Taiwanese society. Born April 5th 1975, the same date as Chiang Kai Shek’s death, Lin Shu Chi (Chi) comes from a working-class family, living on Xingfu Road (literally Happiness Road) in New Taipei. The story chronicles Chi’s growth from her elementary school years under the martial law, her dreaming about Disneyland princesses, and into adulthood facing several party alterations, chasing the American dream, and of seeking happiness through confusion and anxiety. On Happiness Road features people from different ethnic groups on the island; Chi’s grandmother, who is of Amis (Pangcah ) aboriginal descent, her father, who has a thick Taiwanese accent, Wen Yue, who has a Chinese accent is the son of the mayor, Betty, a mixed-race girl born to a Taiwanese woman from Taichung and an American soldier, and another mixed-race child born with a Southeast Asian mother. Each character is in search of their own happiness. One of Chi’s classmates, 31

Sheng En, drops out of elementary school to make a living and help support his family, working his way up as a mechanic and finally becoming his own boss. He runs a scooter shop, buys a building but dies when it collapses due to the combination of shoddy construction and the September 21st earthquake. The rollercoaster of events brings us back to the title itself, while the only specific answer to Chi’s question “what is happiness?” throughout the whole film is given by her grandmother. “Life can’t be too bad, if your belly’s full,” she says. This is not only grandma’s philosophy, but the importance behind food and its meaning in On Happiness Road. For example, cousin Wen’s daughter, born in America, doesn’t eat dumplings, a typically non-American food, or Chi’s comparison of her aging mother’s loneliness to a fridge full of rotten food, and her cooking as a consolation to her elderly parents. On Happiness Road is set against Taiwan’s turbulent political history; the narrative is enriched particularly by three of these representative foods; green betel nuts, brown chocolate, and pink strawberry ice cream.

Betel Nut, Chocolate and Strawberry Ice Cream Chi’s grandma is quite into betel nuts. She takes a long bus trip northward from her hometown Hualien to visit Chi’s family, with a basket of chicken. When Chi goes to 32

buy betel nuts, however, she is laughed at by her schoolmates because they say only “Huan-a” (番仔, a Hokkien pejorative term usually referring to a person of aboriginal ethnicity) would eat betel nuts. Chi’s mother also asks her grandma to stop eating betel nuts in the city. Another character, Betty’s cousin, runs a betel nut stand. Since Betty’s American father has passed away, a cousin, who works in a club in Taichung, raises her up as her single mother. When Betty grows up, she ends up as a single mother too, and the betel nut stand of her cousin again becomes her shelter. Despite coming from an underprivileged family, Betty never benefits from the social welfare system. Her exotic looking and female identity make her vulnerable to intersectional discrimination and inequalities. In the end, it is in the small betel nut stand that this misfortune is represented. “Huan-a” as a word with pejorative connotations carries the social stigma to betel nuts. And if the betel nut business can’t sustain single mother Betty, it’s likely that she will turn to illegal activity to earn a living, which will further stigmatise the betel nut stand. While betel nut chewing is never really shown in On Happiness Road, its absence contradicts people’s accusation against it, which implies that it’s not so much the original sin of betel nuts as social conditioning that should be blamed for these issues. In contrast to the scourge of the betel nuts, Betty’s

story of struggle tells us of how Taiwan’s social structure leads underprivileged people towards desperation, and how they’re trapped in a vicious circle of constant stigmatisation. In comparison to betel nuts, chocolate reigns supreme and is more valued as a gift. When Betty as an elementary school student is about to move to Taichung, she gives Chi a piece of chocolate, mistaken as a present sent by her father. Chi went home happily with the chocolate. A single bite mixes the flavour of coca, milk, and her dreamy America: colourful Christmas lights, a smiling Statue of Liberty, and spectacular skyscrapers. With this kaleidoscopic fantasy of America, Chi gives her grandma a small piece of her cherished chocolate when she’s about to get on the bus back to Hualien. Nevertheless, when the grown-up Chi, who now has started her life in America, comes back to Taiwan for her grandmother’s funeral, putting a piece of the same chocolate in front of her grandmother’s portrait, would it taste as delicious as it used to in her childhood? After growing up, though Chi has now moved to America, she doesn’t really find her life there as exciting as she used to fantasise. During a reunion with Betty, Chi learns that Betty and her mother were actually abandoned by her American soldier father. The chocolate sent by him turns out to be a lie to comfort a child. In the film, the chocolate brand Hisshey’s imitates the real-life

Hershey company, which was amajor supplier of military chocolate (chocolate served the purpose of a high-energy food ration) for American troops during World War II. Besides, at during both WWII and the Vietnam War, there were rumours about chocolate as a gift for American troops to win Asian girls’ affections. Although the story behind the chocolate is embarrassing, Chi does have some tender memories associated with it. However, when her relative finished the chocolate given to her Chi react? Now that militarism takes part in this gift giving and her tender memory making, how would she share this chocolate with the next generation at her grandmother’s funeral? Another food that is easy to associate with chocolate is strawberry ice cream. Chi’s father works in a strawberry ice cream factory in Xinzhuang (新莊), the sweet smell coming out of the chimney brings Chi a rosy fantasy. She wouldn’t realise how boring and dull the strawberry ice cream manufacture could be until she visits the factory to bring something for her father, after he is injured at work. To sustain the family, her father works at the factory, producing the ice cream out of this high-value cash crop, which is also a symbolic aspect of consumerism. In addition, pink’s strong association with femininity largely derives from the Disney princesses’ preaching about the contribution of cultural imperialism in the late 20th century. 33

On the other hand, Wen Yue, the mayor’s son, could go abroad to visit Disneyland when he was still an elementary school student. The film distinguishes between those who can afford something and those who cannot. By studying and working hard, Chi manages to become a member of the middle class, who could afford strawberry ice cream. The grown-up Chi watching Christmas lights in America seems to rid herself of her working class roots,with her mother engaged in domestic OEM and her father working in an unscrupulous ice cream factory. However, when Chi is considering a divorce and returning to Taiwan, the contrast of her helplessness with Wen-Yue’s running for an election, along with social reproduction, increasing economic inequality and the globalisation in the 21st century, causes her further confusion about the so-called petite bourgeoisie’s search for happiness after the Taiwan Economic Miracle.

On the Road The warm hue and chubby characters in the animated film On Happiness Road create an impression of a naive cartoon of our childhood. But the occasional appearances of Chiang Kai-shek statues, or a scene where Chen Hsing You (the daughter of the former president Chen Shui Bian), raise plenty of issues worth discussing. From the perspective of food, we might interpret the narrative composed with betel nuts, chocolate and strawberry ice cream in this way; 34

there are many underprivileged families in Taiwan, like Betty’s, that depend on the betel nut business to sustain themselves. It reveals how faulty the social welfare system is, with the underprivileged excluded from the system. Like the sharing of the chocolate memory, this needs clarifying through transitional justice mechanisms, and understanding how the past becomes now; how to face the future. The class conflict represented by strawberry ice cream further points out the view of transitional justice studies in recent years that transitional justice shouldn’t be confined to civil and political rights, but also need to branch out to economic and cultural fields, dealing with rooted social issues of crony capitalism. How will Chi raise her kid? How will these social issues be tackled? In the end, Chi’s killing-chicken-with-bare-hands grandma, after saying “happiness doesn’t last forever,” rooster-pilots away. Though there are still questions left to be answered, On Happiness Road invites the audience, some of whom may be brought up in a similar family background to that of Chi’s, others may be like Sheng En who works his way up to something, and others still resonate with Betty, born to a single mother, to pace ourselves; to think about what exactly happiness is and what kind of happiness we’re in search of.

Student Journalist Prize

Student Journalist Prize Entries to our Student Journalist Prize will be judged by a panel of international film journalists. The winning reviews will be published on our festival website and in our festival brochure. The winning writer will be presented with their award at festival opening in April 2020, where as well as a cash prize they will have the opportunity to meet the judges and have a one-to-one career focused meeting with one of the panel. Enter at www.FilmTaiwan.org by 30th June 2019 ＃TFFIceland ＃TFFUK ＃FilmReviews ＃CashPrize ＃StudentJournalistPrize

Student Journalist Prize Finalists

Congratulations to Amy Clark of University of Stirling and Derick Bennett of University of Salford, our two finalists in the Student Journalist Prize which was launched by TFFUK at the Student PreLaunch in October 2018. We were thrilled with the response from students all across the UK, but these two stood out from the crowd. The winner will be announced at the festival opening party on 3rd April. The new edition of our Student Journalist Prize competition is now open for submissions, so if you are in full/part time education and have a passion for writing about film or simply want to dip your toe in the water, submit your review to FilmTaiwan by 30th June 2019. See our website for further details. https://filmtaiwan.org/student-journalist-prize-2019/

“Is this my body?” An article about ‘Body Talk’ by Chen Singing. Text by Amy Clark, University of Stirling

A montage of existentialism set against a speckled black background opens the film, prefaced by a crude line drawing of a female body drawn from the perspective of looking down without aid of a mirror - an almost celestial homage to the self, the black background emphasising each white line as important as the astrological proportions of a sketched pair of breasts appear large and unashamed on the screen. The black eventually fades and we cut to 36

a doll, dressed up in pink as it is fed from a plastic bottle over and over again by a toddler as its voice box rasps without the agency to shut itself off. This is the thesis statement of ‘Body Talk’, a film that is as aware of the conflicting ideologies of the self and society as its own interviewees are. These interviews focus on a range of topics - childbirth, illness, body image, menstruation, masturbation,

identity - intercut with each other they present a uniting transcultural understanding of the limitations of the feminine archetype. The women on screen seek to understand their idea of ‘self’ and ‘body’, an idea that is fragmented by the societal and cultural stresses of their day to day lives. Whether menial tasks such as shaving, as one interviewee brings up, are something she does because she wants to or something she does because that’s what women should do. The imposed femininity versus the inherent, if that exists at all, is discussed at length. The women on screen are not identified by their name, nor their occupation, instead their stories are intercut with others to give context and meaning. Chen Singing makes little use of title cards and instead lets her subjects define the topics spoken about themselves. Loose threads string themselves together into patch portraits of women’s struggles and successes seamlessly through each section. The narrative, like the body itself, flows with an organic rhythm punctuated by the quiet contemplative spaces in-between the biting commentary it delivers.

Talk’ are nuanced and contain a certain amount of subtlety and respect difficult to replicate without Chen’s master focus on realism and obvious intimate attachment to the project. The presence of the director can be felt despite her apparent absence, with her own poetry sprinkled throughout. In place of voice over commentary she dispenses verses to aid the audience’s understanding while also adding sentiment and structure to the film which doesn’t feel disingenuous nor pretentious. In fact, ‘Body Talk’ seems devoid of any false sentiment at all. Everything within the eighty-two minute runtime is blatantly self aware, analysing the complexities of existing as a woman without the sugary sweet and easily digestible coating. In essence ’Body Talk’ shows not only the soft curvature of womanhood, but also the buildup of grime under both tooth and nail used to fight back against societal confines.

However, it must be noted that Chen’s work is not a feel good brand of pop-feminism meant to be consumed with morning coffee. The issues spoken about within ‘Body 37

[ Goodbye, Dragon Inn ] Text by Derick Bennett, University of Salford

possible, the detritus of her disposed shells coating the stairway between the stalls. These guests are presided over by the lady who works in the ticket office, her job extending to general caretaker and occasional admirer of the film projectionist.

If these walls could talk, as the old saying goes, what would they say? The idea that a once-popular cinema, now in its final death throes, can act as a repository for the experiences of its patrons is the rumination at the heart of Tsai Ming-Liang’s Goodbye, Dragon Inn. Elegiac in tone, yet interspersed with moments of humour, the film acts as a cinematic love letter to a bygone era; an era of prolific filmmaking, but also one of similarly prolific film-viewing. Throughout its 82-minute runtime, we are watching a film about people watching films. Or rather, one film in particular: The eponymous Dragon Inn, King Hu’s 1967 wuxia classic. This derelict theatre, in its final night of existence, plays host to a collection of cinemagoers, each with their own level of investment in the film. A Japanese tourist who stumbles in from the rain seems to be cruising for a hook-up, whilst an elderly gentleman with a familiar look about him is engrossed in the film. One woman is seemingly only there to eat peanuts in the loudest way 38

For the most part, however, this is a ghost story. Whilst ostensibly set over the course of a single screening of Dragon Inn, Tsai shows us audiences from different periods in the theatre’s lifespan. Early on, we see the screen in its glory days, packed with cinephiles from all walks of life, engrossed in the film and watching attentively. This is gradually revealed to be an echo of the past, for the crowd we spend much of the film with can be accounted for on both hands. The scarcity of human presence and dialogue serves to emphasise the cavernous emptiness of the building, its faded opulence a metaphor of the neglect shown by audiences who have long since abandoned the cinemagoing ritual in favour of other pastimes. The torrential rain outside forms the soundtrack to many sequences, seeping into the old premises and dripping into buckets and puddles. There is no dramatic action moving things forward, a collection of sequence shots instead revealing Tsai’s intent to mourn the passing of the cinema’s heyday with quiet contemplation.

This is in some ways a crystallisation of the director’s previous thematic hallmarks. Much of Tsai’s cinema features languid, ponderous pacing which foregrounds the theme of human agency underpinning his most acclaimed works. His films are about people, set around people, exploring that which is felt within people. As viewers, each static take locates us as present within the scene, evoking a strong sense of place – In the screen, we are in one of the back rows looking down on the people in front, or we are sat just behind the Japanese tourist as he is distracted by the ‘peanut’ lady. Other times we are staring down empty corridors, watching the caretaker in her tentative pursuit of the projectionist. Each of these people have come here looking for something, for Tsai posits the cinema as a spiritual nexus, a place for shared experiences, experiences now reaching an end with the imminent closure of the building.

cleaning for the last time ever. There is an incredible poignancy as we bear witness to the loss of this once-cherished dream factory. Then, in an effective stroke of metanarrative, the two elderly gentlemen we have seen at various points are revealed to be Shih Chun and Miao Tien, actors from the original Dragon Inn. Chun laments that “No-one goes to the movies anymore... and no-one remembers us anymore”. Let’s hope, for all our sakes, that he is mistaken.

As the credits roll on the final showing of Dragon Inn, the house lights come up and the ruse is revealed – it seems as if the screen has been empty the whole time, and the assorted souls we have seen pass through existed only in previous timelines. The final hurrah of the theatre is anticlimactic, and the camera lingers for an unbroken 5 minutes as we watch the ticket lady 39

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Special Thanks to | Mark Adams, Kaleem Aftab, Alix Agret, Mia Bays, Myriam Blundell Phillips, Sophie Brown, Sam Carvey, David Chang, Erchen Chang, Liz Chang, Victoria Chang, Jill Chen, Vanessa Chen, Christine Chiang, Joann Chiang, Joanna Duncombe, Cristina Garcia, Michael Garrad, Beatriz Garcia-Velasco, Kirsten Geekie, Ingvar Haukur Guðmundsson, Chris Gough, Shang-Ho Huang, ShihYin Huang, John Hughes, Huang Hui-Chen, Ado Kaliting Pacidal, Lee Kang-Sheng, Panai Kusui, Bonnie Lai, Cheryl Lai, Ambassador Lin, GuoTing Lin, Andrea Lissoni, GuoTing Lin, Nikita Lin, LeeTzu Mao, Natalie McMorrow, Tsai Ming-Liang, Wendy Mitchell, Ben O’Connor, Sean Parnell, Gil Rodrigues, Shake, Chen Singing, Jo Taylor, Matthew Taylor, Heather Tsui, Peihwa Tso, Claude Wang, Tracy Wang, Yi Hua Wang, Henry Wei, Carly Whitefield, Elizabeth Wood, Dennis Wu, Naifei Wu, Zoey Wu, Albert Yao, Bear Zhang

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