The Taiwan Film Festival UK has teamed up with independent Dalston-based Rio Cinema and its online platform, Rio Player, to host a programme of socially distanced in-cinema screenings and online films this November and December.
The Festival will feature UK film premieres with live Q&As, short films, live music, dance and spoken word performances – as well as a screening of a book club discussion led by abducted Hong Kong bookseller, Lam Wing-Kee of Causeway Bay Books in support of freedom of speech and independent press.
Building on the programme which kicked off in March 2020, this second chapter of the Taiwan Film Festival centres around the theme ‘Wounded yet Healed'. Its line-up features six feature-length documentaries that confront worldwide issues, including the struggle for democracy and freedom of speech, protesting industrialisation, and giving voice to the climate crisis.
“The Rio Cinema has a long history of supporting diverse cultures and telling their stories,” said Rio programmer, Peter Howden. “We are thrilled to continue this tradition by giving this year's Taiwan Film Festival a home in the UK. We look forward to safely welcoming local cinema-goers as well as online viewers from around the world to experience the struggles and triumphs of these stories.”
“We've worked hard to connect with – and support – artists, filmmakers, musicians, poets and activists to curate the content for this year's Festival, said Taiwan Film Festival director and curator, Aephie Chen. “The historic, independent Rio Cinema is the perfect partner for our exploration of diverse culture, history, environment and politics through the human lens of Taiwanese experiences. Like so many events this year, the Taiwan Film Festival UK has been interrupted by the COVID 19 crisis and we are thankful to Rio Cinema for hosting this second chapter of our Festival. Safety is of paramount importance to all of us, so we are working closely with the Rio Cinema to provide a safe and enlightening cultural experience for all our supporters“.
The Katthveli Book Club makes its debut at the Festival with an online event, featuring a rare interview with Lam Wing-Kee on 22 November. The book club-style discussion explores the activist bookseller's experiences and literary selections, including a sneak peek into Taiwan Film Festival highlight, The Price of Democracy.
Directed by the celebrated Liao Jian-hua, The Price of Democracy kicks off the Festival itself with its screening at the Rio on 28 November, following a pre-recorded interview with Liao Jian-hua and producer, Jewel Chen-Lin. The documentary looks back on the 40-year-history of democratisation in Taiwan through the life experiences of two octogenarians who are grass-roots rebels: Tseng, a female novelist who got divorced due to her political idealism in the era of White Terror; and Kang, a canvasser who is known as a ‘Microphone Man'.
The UK premiere of Ocean explores the environmental theme of the Festival with its screening on 29 November, introduced with a recording from director Ke Chin-Yuan. Described as ‘a selfless, forward-looking documentarian's long and silent protest for Taiwan's environment', Ocean tackles the issue of climate change in a very different way than the narrated approach familiar with Westerners.
Wishing to let the environment speak for itself, Ke Chin-Yuan's hour-long film documents the creatures in the Pacific without commentary or narrative – alerting viewers to the ocean crisis and allowing them to re-frame their own interactions with the sea. Ocean will be followed by animated short films The Isle of Chair and Goldfish and the event concludes with a celebration of oceans and islanders with live spoken word performances and music by Taigen Kawabe best known for being the lead singer and a bassist of a London based Japanese psychedelic band “Bo Ningen”.
Healing is an important part of the Festival's theme and is brought to life on screen in The Boiling Water Lama on 12 December. Introduced by director Adiong Lu, the screening will be followed by a live Q&A with Lama Ngawang Yungney. And for those unable to travel to the Rio, director Yang Chun-Kai's exploration of Taiwanese indigenous shaman, Panay Mulu in Path of Destiny will be available to view on the Rio Player from 28 November – 5 December, with an online Q&A taking place on 5 December.
Other Festival highlights include The Age of Awakening with a pre-recorded introduction from award winning director, Ke Chin-yuan, and post screen talk with environmental activists in the UK. Formosan Black Bear is Coming from director Mai Chueh-Ming is an endearing documentary for children and families to enjoy together.
The Taiwan Film Festival is FilmTaiwan's effort to showcase the talented and distinct cinematic voice of Taiwan through a programme of classic and new independent films. It also aims to provide opportunities for Taiwanese filmmakers and producers to showcase their works to UK and Nordic distributors with the goal of creating interactions between the countries.
The Festival takes place at the Rio Cinema on 28 – 29 November, 5-6 December and concludes on 12 December. All live screenings begin at 15.30 to allow for an early finish and safe travel home to accommodate COVID curfews.
More details can be found HERE
