Day to Day is a nice slice-of-life film by young Argentinian director Ariel Rotter. Using relaxing music and free-hand photography, the film tells the story of five young peoples' lives in Buenos Aires: a Chinese girl making her way as a delivery girl; two unemployed brothers; a cleaner who dreams of becoming an actor; and a kitchen assistant who wants work as a chef in Paris. Everyone seems to be waiting for something to happen, yet they're all unsure of what the "something" is. Director Rotter and Taiwanese actress Ali Chen will appear at the screenings on Nov. 22 and Nov. 25.
Another film dealing with Middle East issues is a documentary called Promises. Three directors follow the lives of seven children, both Israeli and Palestinian, who live in Jerusalem. Over the course of three years, the film shows how the innocence of youth quickly fades in a world charged with hatred.
Don't forget the intense drama-comedy Italian for Beginners, a Dogma 95 film by Danish filmmaker Lone Sherfig. The film won the Silver Bear at this year's Berlin Film Festival.
This year's Golden Horse also offers a Japanese New Film section, which will introduce that country's newest talent, Aoyama Shinji, with his poetic road movie Eureka. Seventy-year-old film master Shohei Immamura uses Warm Water Under the Red Bridge to praise the power of eroticism and sexual vitality.
Also screening in this category is animation talent Mamoru Oshii, who brings with him a film depicting a futuristic virtual reality world. The film received high marks at this year's Cannes film festival and is regarded as the art-house version of the film Matrix.
Andy Warhol's 1967 classic Chelsea Girls and a documentary released last year about the film's leading actress, Brigid Berlin, will also be shown. The latter is called Pie in the Sky: The Brigid Berlin Story.
The festival organizers, in a last-minute effort, have also reeled in the hot French film Amelie, by director Jean-Pierre Jeunet. The film is now filling seats in the US and Europe and has received accolades in both places. Jeunet's talent for black comedy shows through in the film which depicts the games a cute girl plays with a mysterious stranger in Paris. The film will be screened on Nov. 28 and Nov. 30.
Notes:
What: Golden Horse Film Festival (台北金馬國際影展) When: Nov. 16 to Dec. 1
Where: Carnival CInema, 52 Omei Street (峨嵋街52號), tel (02) 2388-8282
Tickets: NT$200, tickets and festival program available through ERA Ticketing Outlets.
For more information, visit http://www.goldenhorse.org.tw. FOR YOUR INFORMATION For this year's Golden Horse, Festival News (影迷霹靂報), the official bilingual newsletter for the Golden Horse Film Festival, will be published exclusively by the Taipei Times and Liberty Times. This four-page, daily newsletter will provide information on screenings and on-going events, as well as interviews with guest filmmakers. It will be made available to moviegoers at the following outlets free of charge: Carnival Cinema, Eslite Bookstores (Taipei branches), FNAC, Blockbuster (Taipei branches) and ERA Ticketing Outlets (Taipei branches)
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