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TAIWAN CINEMA DAYS Showcase Featured at the 36th Asian American International Film Festival

  • Date:2013-07-22

Taipei Cultural Center of TECO in New York is pleased to announce its collaboration with Asian CineVision for a special showcase, titled TAIWAN CINEMA DAYS, of Taiwanese films across the spectrum of genres and generations at the 36th Asian American International Film Festival.

The showcase will demonstrate the most excellent achievements of Taiwanese cinema in the year of 2012, the emerging talents in local and transnational productions, and a historical signpost of the evolution of Taiwanese cinema.

The TAIWAN CINEMA DAYS program includes: TOUCH OF THE LIGHT (with HUANG Yu-siang, Sandrine PINNA), directed by CHANG Jung-chi, produced and presented by the legendary Jettone company of WONG Kar-wai, selected as Taiwan’s candidate for the Academy Awards competition for Best Foreign Language Film in 2012; TOGETHER (with LEE Lieh, Kenny Bee, Sonia SUI, MA Chi-siang), directed by Rox Chao-jen HSU, a critically-acclaimed narrative debut with an extraordinary ensemble performance of different generations of Taiwanese actors; GO GRANDRIDERS, by HUA Tien-hau, the highest-grossing documentary of Taiwan in 2012; GOOD MORNING, TAIPEI, a 1979 mandarin Healthy Realism classic by seven-time Golden Horse Winner LEE Hsing; and TAIWAN CINEMA DAYS, a collection of short films made about Taiwan or produced by Taiwanese talents, reflecting a variety of genres, styles and legacies.

Special guests expected to attend the events throughout the Festival include: HUA Tien-hau, director of GO GRANDRIDERS; HONG Guo-juin, Associate Professor of Chinese Literature and Culture at Duke University; Clarissa de los Reyes, director of photography for narrative short HOW I LEARNED TO TELL A LIE, representing director GUO Shang-sing; director of animation short THE BOX, YANG Yiu-chen; Doris YEH, leader of the Taipei-based metal band CHTHONIC.

For more information and tickets, please visit AAIFF.

TAIWAN CINEMA DAYS

July 26 10:00pm Anthology Film Archives.

Featuring the following shorts: When the Cold Wind Blows (Dir. CHIANG Wei Liang), The Box (Dir. YANG Yiu-Chen), How I Learned to Tell a Lie (Dir. GUO Shang-Sing), SeeD (Dir. TSENG Chien-chun and TSENG Yu-hsuan), Rain (Dir. HSU Chang-Hao)

The modern Taipei witnesses the reluctant parting of a Singaporean soldier; a boy framed for theft squats in a pineapple patch in the South; an aboriginal man ruminates on the tribe’s present severed from their tradition. The three cherry picked short films, interspersed with two refreshing animations, comprehensively present the various city- and landscapes of Taiwan, and briskly depart from the rich legacies of the Taiwanese masters like HOU and YANG.

Director YANG Yiu-chen and director of photography Clarissa de los Reyes for HOW I LEARNED TO TELL A LIE will attend the screening and Q&A.

TOGETHER

Dir. Rox Chao-jen HSU | 2012 | Taiwan | 114min | Mandarin and Taiwanese w/ES | New York Premiere | July 27 5:30 pm New York Institute of Technology

Xiao Yang patiently observes and quietly serves as a messenger for the love affairs in her neighborhood (the title references a play on words: to-get-her). Reminiscent of the urban tale with an ensemble cast like A ONE AND A TWO, this film patiently unfolds romantic stories on a street in contemporary Taipei, with a refreshingly original voice. TOGETHER presents brilliant performances from the great actors of different generations, such as LEE Lieh, Kenny Bee, Sonia SUI, HUANG Shao-yang, and MA Chih-hsiang, to weave together this romantic film.

GO GRANDRIDERS

Dir. HUA Tien-hau | 2012 | Taiwan | 75min | Mandarin and Taiwanese w/ES | New York Premiere | Jul 31 9:00 pm Anthology Film Archives

Well, why not a motorcycle club for senior citizens? With an average age of 81, a group of 17 Taiwanese retirees leave behind their grandchildren and take along their aches and pains to embark on an unbelievable adventure: a thirteen-day motorcycle tour around the island of Taiwan. These Grandriders defied everyone’s expectations with their epic motorcycle trip of 2007. A joyous mélange of personal, uplifting and awe-inspiring stories, the film makes us reconsider what it means to be old and very much alive.

Director HUA Tien-hau will attend the screening and Q&A.

GOOD MORNING, TAIPEI

Dir. LEE Hsing | 1979 | Taiwan | 102 min | Mandarin w/ES |

Aug 1 9:00pm Anthology Film Archives

YEH Tein-lin (Kenny Bee), a college dropout and a loose singer seems never to take his life seriously. But he gradually changes as he finds more about the life of his orphan friend’s girlfriend SU Chi (Joan LIN), a radio station broadcaster. The 1979 mandarin classic, directed by LEE Hsing, the master of “healthy realism” in the 60s and 70s, boasts some of the most popular mandarin pop and folk songs. Capitalizing on the pop culture and melodrama, HOU Hsiao-hsien’s screenplay nevertheless adopts a loose story line and heralds a transition to what is considered later the first New Wave in Taiwanese Cinema. Some elements have transformed; others have evolved and been absorbed by the following generations, resonating even today with the contemporary Taiwanese titles in this year’s lineup. The screening is made possible by the support of Richard Suchenski (Center for Moving Image Arts, Bard College). Print courtesy of the Center for Moving Image Arts, Bard College.

Film scholar HONG Guo-juin will introduce the film.

TOUCH OF THE LIGHT

Dir. CHANG Jung-chi | 2012 | Taiwan, Hong Kong | 110 min | Mandarin w/ES | New York Premiere | Aug 3 4:30pm Asia Society

Based on the life story of HUANG Yu-Siang, who stars as himself, TOUCH OF THE LIGHT tells HUANG’s story as a blind piano prodigy from rural Taiwan and his relationship with Xiao Jie (Sandrine PINNA), a young woman who dreams of becoming a dancer despite enormous challenges. Critically acclaimed and warmly received worldwide, TOUCH OF THE LIGHT is blessed with the most striking performance by HUANG Yu-Siang as it celebrates triumphs of those who dare to dream. Print Courtesy of Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the U.S.