The producers of Taiwan Film Festival Edinburgh and Queer East Film Festival are delighted to announce their first ever collaboration, TFFE x QEFF. The project sees 2 UK premieres – Nobody (2020), a debut feature film from director Lin Chun-hua which reveals the story of an elderly transsexual character, rarely explored in LGBTQ+ cinema, and The Shepherds (2018), a documentary by Elvis Lu charting the struggles of LGBTQ+ Christians in Taiwan, and the challenges they face in making their voices heard.
The 3 short films presented earlier this year by Taiwan FFE are brought back and presented alongside the two features. These are: Towards the Sun (2016), directed by Wang Yi-Ling, a moving story of an unlikely friendship, Chen He-Yu's The Busy Young Psychic (2013) focusing on a teenage girl with a special gift and A Taxi Driver (2018), directed by Chen Yen-Hong, a thrilling story of a man finally deciding to take control of his own life.
2020 saw the first Taiwan Film Festival Edinburgh taking place digitally in September, attracting hundreds of film buffs from across the UK thanks to an ambitious programme, half of which were UK premieres, showcasing the fascinating story of Taiwanese cinema from the 60s up until now. Also in its first year, Queer East Film Festival takes place in a hybrid form of online and physical screenings between October 2020 and January 2021. QEFF is devoted to showcasing rarely seen LGBTQ+ cinema from East and Southeast Asia and it presents dozens of feature, short and documentary films.
All 5 titles are available to watch digitally between 30 October and 5 November. Once an audience member gains access to a title, they will have 5 days to watch it and 30 hours playback time once they click ‘watch'. To ensure wide access to this unique cinematic offering, all films are free to access, limited to 400 users per title. UK audiences only.
As part of the TFFE x QEFF programme, the producers present a Q&A with the director of The Shepherd, Elvis Lu. It will take place on Sunday, 1 November (time TBC) on TFFE's YouTube channel and both festivals' Facebook pages.
Director of The Shepherds, Elvis Lu, said: “This is probably the first time in the Chinese-speaking community worldwide that a film addresses the issues of both gender and religion. The focus is on the LGBT Christians in Taiwan and the different scenarios of their struggles. The main characters, in pursuit of their beliefs, have encountered the unfriendliness in the environment and the dilemma between their family and life. Despite the numerous difficulties, they fall down and get back up time and again, in the process of which we do see the bitterness and helplessness behind their bravery. Their hope is to alleviate the oppression and discrimination of the mainstream values against the minority individuals/groups in the society, and the film epitomizes how they have fought for marriage equality in Taiwan.”
TFFE x QEFF films and TFFE short films programme are available to watch from 30 October
Nobody (2020) by Chun-Hua Lin
Synopsis
A strange-behaving old man lives in a suite built illegally on top of a building. One day, a girl named Zhen-zhen breaks into his place as she intends to spy on her father from the window of the old man's room. With her visits becoming more frequent, old man's neighbours begin to suspect he hires prostitutes, even the girl's mother starts to believe Zhen-zhen is involved with the old man. The rumours spread and the old man's secret is unintentionally revealed….
The Shepherds (2018) by Elvis Lu
Synopsis
Defiant towards massive condemnation and denunciation in the society, a heterosexual female pastor founded Taiwan's first LGBT-affirming church in May 1996. For LGBT Christians who had been rejected by the Christian community for a long time, this church finally provided them with a safe haven. Today, while the founder has passed away, the church members continue to make their voice heard. They struggle in the conflicts of the religion and confront the unjust social institution at the same time. Despite the price paid, they strive to make a difference in others' lives with their own life stories, hoping that one day…love will eventually eliminate hostility and misunderstanding
