This week offers a unique opportunity, thanks to the Taipei City Government and the Taiwan Film Center, to watch the best Chinese-language films released in the past year for free at two locations in Taipei.
The Best Chinese Cinema of the Year festival, which ends Friday, features 20 films from Taiwan, China and Hong Kong, several of which received major awards at film festivals around the world. Beijing Bicycle (十七歲的單車) and Betelnut Beauty (愛你愛我), two of the festival's most anticipated films, made a sensation by winning three major awards at the beginning of the year at the Berlin Film Festival. Their sweep, along with another entrant titled The Cabbie (運轉手之戀) at the Berlin festival set the tone for Chinese-language cinema's preeminence at festivals throughout the year.
Hsiao Ya-chuan's (蕭雅全) Mirror Image (命帶追逐), which won first place at both the Taipei Film Festival and the Fukuoka Film Festival, will be another highlight of the festival, with its story of youth and love in the so-called "e" era.
Another stand-out film is Lanyu (
Making this festival special, aside from its unimpeachable admission price, is the fact that many of these films see little or no screen time in Taiwan, despite the fact that many were made by Taiwanese directors. Several of the films, including Beijing Bicycle, are also being screened in Taiwan for the first time.
The films will be screened at Changchun Theater, located at 172 Changchun Rd., Taipei
Changchun Theater screenings
Today at 12pm, Blue August; 2:30pm Betelnut Beauty; 5pm The Cabbie; and 7:30 Mirror Image (English subtitles)
Tomorrow at 12pm Mirror Image (English subtitles); and 7:30 Betelnut Beauty
Thursday at 12pm The Cabbie; 2:30 Blue August; 5pm Lanyu; and 7:30pm Glass Tears (English subtitles)
Friday at 12pm Glass Tears (English subtitles); 2:30pm Betelnut Beauty (English subtitles); 5pm Glass Tears (English subtitles); 7:30 Beijing Bicycle (English subtitles)
KMT National Headquarters
Today at 10am Bundled; 12pm Xiao Shan Going Home; 2:30pm Ha Ha Shanghai; 5pm Go for Broke; 7:30pm Ge Ge
Tomorrow at 10am Grandma's Hairpin; 12pm Birdland (English subtitles), Fluffy Rhapsody; 2:30pm A Small Mirage (English subtitles) and West Island
Thursday at 2:30pm Grandma's Hairpin; 5pm Birdland (English subtitles); 7:30pm A Small Miracle (English subtitles) and West Island
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