Taipei Film Festival prepares a Spanish feast

Chen Mo and Meiting (陳默與美婷), Uniform (制服), Feeding Boys, Ayaya (哎呀呀, 去哺乳) and The Only Son (山清水秀) are winners of major film festivals last year. Feeding Boys is a particularly intriguing story about two bored boys deciding to become male prostitutes because they believe that like other mammals, they have the duty to "feed" others.

South Korea's Kim Ki-duk is showing two films: The Coast Guard and Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter ... and Spring. The former is about a soldier in the demilitar-ized zone who mistakenly shoots a drunken civilian having sex with his lover. He is thus traumatized and haunted by the image of the killing. The latter film is Kim's recent highly praised work, which strays from his usual theme of violence and instead presents a more tender picture of existence. The film describes a monk's life, how he breaks the rules (submits to the temptation of desire) and later commits murder. Each episode expresses a zen-like feeling yet Kim still maintains a strong visual charm, telling a quiet, yet visually exciting story.

What: Taipei Film Festival

When: March 21 to April 3

Where: Zhongshan Hall, 98 Yenping S Rd, Taipei (¥x¥_¥«©µ¥­«n¸ô98¸¹)

Metropolitan Hall, 25 Bade Rd, Sec 3, Taipei (¥x¥_¥«¤K¼w¸ô¤T¬q25¸¹)

President Cinema, 4F, 59 Zhonghua Rd, Sec 2, Taipei (¥x¥_¥«¤¤µØ¸ô¤G¬q59¸¹4¼Ó)

How much: Tickets are NT$150 if purchased by March 21, NT$180 during the festival period, from Acer ticketing outlets.

More information about the program is available at Eslite Bookstore, or go to www. tiff.org.tw