The stories mostly focus on extreme behavior or obsessive emotions, often with violence and fast editing. These films, which might shock older people, but which are seen as cool by the younger generation, include The Color of Life by Yoshima Ishibashi and Blue Spring by Toyoda Toshiaki.
The section entitled The Australian New Wave Retrospective looks back on the earlier works of acclaimed Australian directors who now make quality Hollywood films. They are Peter Weir (The Truman Show), Gillian Armstrong (Little Women) Bruce Beresford (Driving Miss Daisy) and Philip Noyce (Patriot Games, The Quiet American). This will be a chance to review the films which have become representative of Australian filmmaking, going back to Bruce Beresford's Don's Party, Weir's Picnic at Hanging Rock and Gillian Armstrong's My Brilliant Career, which established Australia as a major force in contemporary cinema.
These films can be contrasted with work by emerging directors such as Tony Ayres and David Caesar, although the Australian New Currents section is considerably weaker than the retrospective, which is something of a pity.
While much of the appeal for local audiences undoubtedly comes from the chance to see great works by Japanese and Australian directors, the city focus is particularly emphasized by a section of the film festival dedicated to Taipei titled the Citizen/City Vision Program. This incorporates a competition section with a purse of NT$1 million for the winner of the Taipei Grand Award (台北電影獎), which is aimed at encouraging young filmmakers to put Taipei on the map of cinematic references. Twenty-eight works have been selected for this category out of 119 entries and will be screening from March 15.
For your information:
Tickets for the Taipei Film Festival are available through Acer ticketing outlets. More information about the program,
venues and screening times can be obtained at the festival Web site http://www.ch5.tv/TIFF/.
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