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Taipei Film Festival focuses on Denmark

Minor Mishaps by Annette Olesen from Denmark. PHOTOS: COURTESY OF TAIPEI FILM FESTIVAL

The smallest and southernmost of the five Nordic countries, Denmark has been a vigorous player in world cinema and its filmic past and present will be celebrated at this year's Taipei Film Festival, which kicks off next Friday with a dazzling lineup of over 280 feature, documentary, animation, short and experimental films from around the world.

Classics such as the erotically charged melodrama The Abyss (1910), one of the world's first science-fiction flick A Trip to Mars (1918), Oscar-winners Babette's Feast (1987) and Pelle the Conqueror (1987) and cinema great Carl Theodor Dreyer's (1889-1968) indelible imprints in film history are reminiscent of the country's distinguished traditions. Contemporary Danish cinema continues to enrich the international art-house circle with new auteurs in the making. Anders Thomas Jensen's dark comedy on cannibalism The Green Butchers and Annette Olesen's One to One, Minor Mishaps and In Your Hands will screen at the festival.

"Though they may not directly be making Dogme films, Olesen is among the younger generations of Danish filmmakers influenced by the Dogme movement that aims to liberate cinema from expensive special effects, set lighting and all the trappings of traditional filmmaking. It marks a return to the story itself and the casts' performances," festival director, Jane Yu (游惠貞), said.

Brand Upon the Brain! by idiosyncratic Guy Maddin from Canada

Indeed, it is impossible to talk about Danish cinema without mentioning the Dogme 95 avant-garde filmmaking school that saw its first work, The Celebration by Thomas Vinterberg, released in 1998 followed by 201 certified Dogme films to date. The festival's City of Dogma section will feature 15 notable Dogme films and works that are deemed to strictly follow the movement's aesthetics. Worthy of particular mention is the award-winning documentary Shape of the Moon by acclaimed Dutch cinematographer Leonard Retel Helmrich, who chronicled Indonesia's socio-political troubles with his hand-held camera.

The Green Butchers by Anders Thomas Jensen from Denmark

Another festival highlight is the popular international New Talent Competition that includes 14 feature films, many of which were made by veteran artists from different fields rather than 20-something filmmakers as in previous years. A feature debut by Peter Brosens known for his documentary trilogy about Mongolia, Khadak takes a sober gaze at the relocation of Mongolian nomadic tribes in cities through the eyes of a young tribal man with shamanic powers. Coming from a Polish filmmaking tradition, Retrieval presents a Kieslowskiesque ethical project while Me tells of a German worker's existential quest in an anonymous village in Spain.

Open Hearts, Dogme film 28 by Susanne Bier and Anders Thomas Jensen

Festival notes What: Taipei Film Festival 2007 (第九屆台北電影節) When: June 22 to July 9 Where: Taipei Zhongshan Hall (台北市中山堂), 98 Yanping S Rd, Taipei (台北市延平南路98號); in89 Digital Cinema (in89豪華數位影院), 89 Wuchang St Sec 2, Taipei (台北市武昌街二段89號) and Metropolitan Hall (城市舞台), 25 Bade Rd Sec 3, Taipei (台北市八德路三段25號). Tickets: NT$100 for advance weekday matinee tickets; NT$150 for advance weeknight and weekend ticket, available through ERA ticket outlets or at www.ticket.com.tw On the Net: www.tiff.org.tw

Directors from China feature prominently in this year's Global Chinese Cinerama section. The country's outspoken social critic Jia Zhang-ke (賈樟柯) returns with his new short Our 10 Years Times (我們的十年) along with the Venice-winner Still Life (三峽好人) and Dong (東). The festival's new "discovery" The Obscure (小說) is a highly stylish piece by cinematographer-turned director Lu Yue (呂樂) that crosses the fiction/non-fictional divide by asking 12 respected writers to talk about poetry.

Last but not least, the Selection of City Vision section offers a veritable feast for true film buffs with the latest works by Italian master Otar Iosseliani, France's living legend Alain Resnais and the idiosyncratic Guy Maddin from Canada.

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