Taiwanese-born, France-based director Huang Pang-Chuan’s latest short film Last Year When the Train Passed By will be presented at Doc Fortnight 2019, The Museum of Modern Art’s 18th annual showcase of outstanding and innovative nonfiction film. The film recently was awarded the Grand Prize in this year’s Lab competition at Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival 2019.
Last Year When the Train Passed By is Huang’s second film following his debut Return, both of which are based on his experience of traveling by train. “I’m always curious about little houses I see through the window as I pass by. The photography allows me to return to these places, and discover the stories of these peoples,” said Huang.
In his films, Huang is especially interested in the subjects of memory, voyage and film, topics that give him an immensity of themes, including nostalgia, the passing of time, and constant changes in life. Shot on super 8mm and scored by Lim Giong, who composed music for acclaimed director Hou Hsiao-hisen and Jia Zhangke, Last Year When the Train Passed By has been winning prizes on the European short festival circuit.
This film will make its North American premiere on Feb 23 and Feb 27 at MoMA’s Doc Fortnight, running from Feb 21 to 28, 2019, which will showcase more than 17 documentary films from around the world, including Chinese director Wang Xiaoshuai’s Chinese Portrait. For the full lineup and schedule, visit Doc Fortnight 2019.
ABOUT THE DIRECTOR
HUANG Pang-Chuan was born in 1988 in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. He graduated with a degree in graphic design, and then has immersed himself in cinema since studying at Sorbonne Nouvelle - Paris 3. He is inspired by his diverse practical experiences to create an ambiguity between documentary and fiction. All his work contains three elements: memory, voyage and traditional film technology.
FILM AND DESCRIPTION
Last Year When the Train Passed By
Directed by Huang Pang-Chuan
France / 2018 / 17 min. / In Taiwanese with English subtitles
Huang Pang-Chuan plays with the element of nostalgia that often accompanies the passing of time, revisiting places he had photographed a year earlier and asking the subjects what they were doing then.
Feb. 23, 1:15 pm at Theater 2, Department of Film, MoMA
Feb. 27, 4:30 pm at Theater 1, Department of Film, MoMA