The Taipei Cultural Center in New York is pleased to announce that Park (Taman-taman) will be featured at the 14th edition of First Look, the acclaimed festival of the Museum of the Moving Image, on March 13, 2025, with director So Yo–hen in attendance.
Park unfolds through the journey of two Indonesian migrants meeting by night in Tainan Park to share poems and tales, with the migrants becoming integral parts of these narratives themselves. "If we describe it with landscape painting, no matter how realistic it is, the painter cannot bring the scenery in front of them into the exhibition hall. However, looking at the landscapes that the painter has selected, modified, and embellished, sometimes the soul can be taken to a further place. Or, the painting itself is already an independent scenery, whether as a whole or in detail; it makes people yearn for or fear. Sometimes, when looking at landscape paintings, imagining the painter facing the scenery across this canvas, gradually, it also becomes a part of the scenery," said director So Yo-hen.
Before coming to First Look, the film won the Grand Prize at the Taiwan International Documentary Festival Asian Vision Competition and Outstanding Artistic Contribution Award at the 2024 International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) Envision Competition. Director So Yo-hen studied at the Graduate Institute of Plastic Arts at Tainan National University of the Arts. His creative work often involves the underrepresented in culture and society.
First Look, MoMI’s annual festival showcasing adventurous new cinema, offers a diverse slate of major New York premieres, work-in-progress screenings and sessions, and fresh perspectives on the art and process of filmmaking.
For more information, please visit: https://movingimage.org/series/firstlook2025/
First Look Film Festival 2025
Park (Taman-taman)｜Director: So Yo–hen｜Documentary｜2024｜101 minutes
Thursday, Mar 13, 2025｜6:00 pm｜※Director So Yo–hen participating in post-film Q&A
Location: Bartos Screening Room, MoMI (36-01 35th Ave, Queens, NY 11106)