Co-organized by the Asian Cultural Council (ACC) and the Taipei Cultural Center in New York, the upcoming “ACC Voices: East-West Dialogues” event will take place at the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in New York on Wednesday, October 16, 2024, at 6:30 PM.
The event will feature a lecture and discussion with two ACC alumni: renowned Taiwanese filmmaker and production designer Wern Ying Hwarng (黃文英), known for her work on The Assassin (刺客聶隱娘), Silence (沉默), and Three Times (最好的時光), and art director and production designer Charles McCarry, whose credits include War of the Worlds, American Gangster, and The Sixth Sense.
Hwarng and McCarry will discuss filmmaking and production design in the wake of their recent collaboration on the film Be with Me (車頂上的玄天上帝), Hwarng’s directorial debut. A reception featuring Taiwanese culinary delicacies will follow.
Launched in 2013, ACC’s East-West Dialogue lecture series engages thought leaders from the arts and cultural fields in Asia and the West. The series serves as a public platform to advance the values of cultural exchange through dynamic discussion and probing inquiry.
This event is free and open to the public. RSVP by October 1:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/acc-voices-tickets-1016657007477?aff=oddtdtcreator
Event Details:
• Date: October 16, 2024
• Time: Doors open at 6:00 PM; Conversation at 6:30 PM; Reception from 7:30–8:30 PM
• Location: Main Lobby of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in New York, 1 East 42nd Street, New York, NY 10017
• Speakers: Wern Ying Hwarng (ACC 2015) and Charles McCarry (ACC 2022)
About the Asian Cultural Council (ACC)
Founded in 1963, the Asian Cultural Council (ACC) is a nonprofit organization that provides opportunities for international cultural exchange to artists, scholars, and arts professionals between Asia and the United States. Through fellowships, grants, alumni engagement, and other cultural exchange initiatives, ACC aims to build global arts communities whose individual and collective work serves to advance international understanding and respect.
To date, ACC has awarded over $100 million USD to support nearly 6,000 exchanges for individuals from 26 countries representing more than 16 different artistic disciplines across the visual and performing arts. Notable Taiwanese alumni include visual artists Liu Kuo-sung (劉國松) and Wu Chi-Tsung,(吳季璁), Cloud Gate Dance Company(雲門舞集), jingju performer Wei Hai Min(魏海敏) ; among many others.
About Wern Ying Hwarng
Wern Ying Hwarng is a veteran production designer from Taiwan and a long-term art director for filmmaker Hou Hsiao-hsien (侯孝賢). She also served as the supervising art director for Martin Scorsese’s Silence. In 2015, Hwarng received an ACC grant for a four-month fellowship in India to explore traditionally crafted film sets, participate in fabric and costume design workshops, and engage with Indian film directors and producers. In 2018, she was invited to join the US Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
About Charles McCarry
Charles McCarry is a veteran production designer whose lengthy resume includes credits such as Wern Ying Hwarng’s Be With Me, Ridley Scott’s American Gangster, Ryan Murphy’s The Normal Heart, Martin Scorcese’s The Departed, Steven Spielberg’s War of the Worlds, and M. Night Shyamalan’s The Sixth Sense. In 2022, the Taiwan Film & Culture Association received an ACC project grant to bring McCrary to Taipei to run a training program in the use of miniatures to create special effects in film.