This year the Taipei Film Festival will focus on the theme of cities, most
particularly the cities of Paris and Prague. But before the important
content comes on - and there are some outstanding works which Taipei
audiences might otherwise have little chance to see - the festival will
first take a look closer to home.
The Urban Community Film Festival has been instituted as part of the Taipei
Film Festival to encourage local filmmakers. And with the city government
putting up substantial prize money for the winners, many emerging and some
established directors have taken part, ensuring that this part of the
festival - which starts on Sunday - will also have a representative sample
of some of Taiwan's best films.
The total prize money of NT$1 million will be distributed among four
categories and will include animation, documentary films, feature films and
also an amateur category. Films such as Cheng Yu-chieh's(鄭有傑) Summer,
Dream(石碇的夏天), have already featured in the Golden Horse Awards, while
others probably have less chance for public screenings outside such
festivals. According to a statement by Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), he hopes
that Taiwan's filmmakers, by turning their eyes on their own city, will
create the same kind of cinematic record of Taipei as French and Czech
filmmakers have for Paris and Prague. The imported films will be screening
from March 3.
Screenings will be held on Feb. 24 to Feb. 28 at the Taipei International
Artists Village (台北國際藝術村). Screenings will be repeated between March
13 to March 15 at the Social Education Center (社教館). All screenings are
free. Schedules can be obtained from the Social Education Center or at
Chungshan Hall (中山堂). More information can be obtained by calling (02)
2395-3170.
Last week, Viola Zhou published a marvelous deep dive into the culture clash between Taiwanese boss mentality and American labor practices at the Taiwan Semiconductor (TSMC) plant in Arizona in Rest of World. “The American engineers complained of rigid, counterproductive hierarchies at the company,” while the Taiwanese said American workers aren’t dedicated. The article is a delight, but what it is depicting is the clash between a work culture that offers employee autonomy and at least nods at work-life balance, and one that runs on hierarchical discipline enforced by chickenshit. And it runs on chickenshit because chickenshit is a cultural
By far the most jarring of the new appointments for the incoming administration is that of Tseng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦) to head the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF). That is a huge demotion for one of the most powerful figures in the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). Tseng has one of the most impressive resumes in the party. He was very active during the Wild Lily Movement and his generation is now the one taking power. He has served in many of the requisite government, party and elected positions to build out a solid political profile. Elected as mayor of Taoyuan as part of the
Moritz Mieg, 22, lay face down in the rubble, the ground shaking violently beneath him. Boulders crashed down around him, some stones hitting his back. “I just hoped that it would be one big hit and over, because I did not want to be hit nearly to death and then have to slowly die,” the student from Germany tells Taipei Times. MORNING WALK Early on April 3, Mieg set out on a scenic hike through Taroko Gorge in Hualien County (花蓮). It was a fine day for it. Little did he know that the complex intersection of tectonic plates Taiwan sits
When picturing Tainan, what typically comes to mind is charming alleyways, Japanese architecture and world-class cuisine. But look beyond the fray, through stained glass windows and sliding bookcases, and there exists a thriving speakeasy subculture, where innovative mixologists ply their trade, serving exquisite concoctions and unique flavor profiles to rival any city in Taiwan. Speakeasies hail from the prohibition era of 1920s America. When alcohol was outlawed, people took their business to hidden establishments; requiring patrons to use hushed tones — speak easy — to conceal their illegal activities. Nowadays legal, speakeasy bars are simply hidden bars, often found behind bookcases