An incubator for filmmakers in Taiwan, the annual Golden Harvest Awards and Short Film Festival (金穗獎入圍暨電影短片輔導金成果影展) recognizes excellence in producing short films with a lineup of narrative, animated, experimental and documentary shorts by up-and-coming Taiwanese filmmakers and film students. Over 75 films will be screened at Spot — Huashan (光點華山電影館).
The most noticeable trends in documentary filmmaking over the past year are the increased concerns for social and political issues. In the realm of narrative shorts, by contrast, family matters and the experience of growing up remain the most frequently covered topics, while there is a surge of interest in the suspense and thriller genres.
Organized by the Taiwan Film Institute (國家電影中心) under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture (MOC), the film festival also includes the Golden Harvest Awards (金穗獎), the oldest film festival in Taiwan.
Photo courtesy of Taiwan Film Institute
For the Golden Harvest Awards, which celebrates its 37th edition this year, 49 films were selected from 232 entries to compete for over NT$5 million in prize money. Led by renowned director Cheng Wen-tang (鄭文堂), the panel of judges includes film critic Ryan Cheng (鄭秉泓), director Lin Cheng-sheng (林正盛) and academic Sing Song-yong (孫松榮), who will announce the winners at an awards ceremony on Thursday.
GOLDEN HARVEST
Death is a popular motif at this year’s Golden Harvest. Under the Water (溺境), for example, tells of the mysterious drowning of a boy, while The Evil Inside (噬心魔) is a psychological thriller revolving around a bet on an old man’s death. A finely crafted work of social critique, The Death of a Security Guard (保全員之死) examines today’s manipulative, sensationalist media through a story about a security guard who is found dead at work.
Photo courtesy of Taiwan Film Institute
There are a broad range of topics covered in the documentary category. Taiwan’s recent democracy and social movements take center stage in Chen Yu-ching’s (陳育青) award-winning Civil Disobedience (公民不服從). In Luscious Lips (厚唇), director Lin Kai–ti (林開地) looks at the life of his grandmother to explore the history of the Chinese diaspora in Southeast Asia. Meanwhile, the worldview of people with visual impairment is explored in Listen, Darling.
The animated works at this year’s festival have enjoyed success on the local festival circuit. Black Bear Moon, a nominee at the Kaohsiung Film Festival’s (高雄電影節) short film competition last year, spins a whimsical yarn about a girl and her best friend, a black bear. Nominated for last year’s Taipei Film Awards (台北電影獎), Rock Rabbit (搖滾搖籃曲) blends fantasy and rock ‘n’ roll through a story about a rock band formed by four bunnies.
To further facilitate exchanges among filmmakers from home and abroad, this year’s festival also includes a program of short films selected from Fresh Wave (鮮浪潮), an annual international short film festival in Hong Kong.
Photo courtesy of Taiwan Film Institute
Most of the screenings are followed by a Q&A session. Film professionals, including blockbuster director Yeh Tien-lun (葉天倫), promising filmmaker Sean Kao (高炳權), film professor and animation director Jay Shih (石昌杰) and actor and director Cheng Yu-chieh (鄭有傑), will hold panel discussions on various topics.
The combined festival runs until March 29, after which it will tour the rest of the nation including Miaoli, Yunlin, Chiayi, Changhua, Pingtung, Hualien, Penghu, Kinmen and Green Island until May 3. For more information, visit the event’s Web site at www.movieseeds.com.tw or its Facebook fan page at www.facebook.com/gha.tw.
Photo courtesy of Taiwan Film Institute
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