The South Taiwan Film and Video Festival (
The third annual film festival is proof of south Taiwan's love of movies. It will also preview upcoming filmmaking talents in the region.
The event was originally started by Tainan National College of Arts to show student works from the college's film department. This year, the festival is co-hosted by Tainan City Government and Kaohsiung City Government and will not only show international films, but also hold a competition among Taiwan's young filmmakers. The awards will be awarded next Friday, Oct. 31.
Unknown Pleasures is the third film of Jia Zhang-ke, a story about three aimless young characters in the remote provincial town of Datung. The background of the film is a series of actual events: Beijing's 2008 Olympic Games bid, China entering the WTO, a collision between Chinese and US military planes that took place over the island of Hainan, China, and in the south a notorious bank robber becomes a national idol among many youngsters shortly before being executed.
But the main themes of the film are the lonely and bleak buildings in the city, the indifferent and nihilistic world of the young people, who have no hopes for the future despite changes in the country. The film is a deep and humanistic reflection on contemporary China.
Another spotlighted film in the festival is Sex is Comedy by French director Catherine Breillat. Breillat gained fame for making controversial films with graphic sex scenes and a feminist perspective, such as Romance X (1999) and Fat Girl (2001).
Starring Anne Parillaud (Nikita,1990), the film is about making a movie, in specific shooting a sex scene for the film Fat GirlD. Parillaud plays the imperious film director who infatuates the two gorgeous actors on the set. But one of them refuses to remove his socks in the bedroom scene, yet submits to wearing a huge prosthetic erect penis, which he shows off to the crew between takes.
A series of mind games between the actors and the director is the outcome.
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