Once a squatter community inhabited primarily by war veterans who retreated to Taiwan with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), Treasure Hill (寶藏巖) has witnessed the city’s transformation while undergoing a metamorphosis itself to become what it is today: an artist village and youth clubhouse frequented by camera-wielding visitors.
Bearing its history in mind, there is probably no better place to hold the Treasure Hill Film Festival: Mirage — Urban and Architecture (海市蜃樓 — 城市與建築專題影展), an outdoor event that aims to explore the relation between urban inhabitants and the environment through cinema.
Co-organized by Treasure Hill Artist Village (寶藏巖國際藝術村) and Taiwan Film institute (國家電影中心), the mini-festival opens today with a lineup of 10 films from Taiwan, Hong Kong and China and runs through August 15.
Photo Courtesy of Treasure Hill Artist Village
Among the selected works, both Wan Jen’s (萬仁) 1998 Connection by Fate (超級公民) and Robinson’s Crusoe (魯賓遜漂流記, 2003) by Lin Cheng-sheng (林正盛) tackle issues surrounding land development and urban living. Meanwhile, Waterfront Villa Bonita (水岸麗景, 2007) by Lou Yi-an (樓一安) examines the absurdity of urban life through the eyes of people living on the margins of society.
Other selected films include Tsai Ming-liang’s (蔡明亮) Vive L’Amour (愛情萬歲), Chinese maestro Jia Zhangke’s (賈樟柯) 24 City (二十四城記) and McDull, Prince de la Bun (麥兜，菠蘿油王子) by Hong Kong animation director Toe Yuen (袁建滔).
The outdoor screenings will take place Fridays and Saturdays at 7pm. After each screening, there will be a panel discussion on the films and related issues featuring filmmakers, artists and scholars. All activities are free of admission, and the films have Chinese subtitles only.
Photo Courtesy of Treasure Hill Artist Village
Treasure Hill Artist Village is located at 2, Alley 14, Ln 230, Dingzhou Rd Sec 3, Taipei City (台北市汀州路三段230巷14弄2號). For more information, visit www.artistvillage.org.
Photo Courtesy of Treasure Hill Artist Village
Photo Courtesy of Treasure Hill Artist Village
Photo Courtesy of Treasure Hill Artist Village
Photo Courtesy of Treasure Hill Artist Village
In the March 9 edition of the Taipei Times a piece by Ninon Godefroy ran with the headine “The quiet, gentle rhythm of Taiwan.” It started with the line “Taiwan is a small, humble place. There is no Eiffel Tower, no pyramids — no singular attraction that draws the world’s attention.” I laughed out loud at that. This was out of no disrespect for the author or the piece, which made some interesting analogies and good points about how both Din Tai Fung’s and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) meticulous attention to detail and quality are not quite up to
April 21 to April 27 Hsieh Er’s (謝娥) political fortunes were rising fast after she got out of jail and joined the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) in December 1945. Not only did she hold key positions in various committees, she was elected the only woman on the Taipei City Council and headed to Nanjing in 1946 as the sole Taiwanese female representative to the National Constituent Assembly. With the support of first lady Soong May-ling (宋美齡), she started the Taipei Women’s Association and Taiwan Provincial Women’s Association, where she
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) hatched a bold plan to charge forward and seize the initiative when he held a protest in front of the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office. Though risky, because illegal, its success would help tackle at least six problems facing both himself and the KMT. What he did not see coming was Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (將萬安) tripping him up out of the gate. In spite of Chu being the most consequential and successful KMT chairman since the early 2010s — arguably saving the party from financial ruin and restoring its electoral viability —
It is one of the more remarkable facts of Taiwan history that it was never occupied or claimed by any of the numerous kingdoms of southern China — Han or otherwise — that lay just across the water from it. None of their brilliant ministers ever discovered that Taiwan was a “core interest” of the state whose annexation was “inevitable.” As Paul Kua notes in an excellent monograph laying out how the Portuguese gave Taiwan the name “Formosa,” the first Europeans to express an interest in occupying Taiwan were the Spanish. Tonio Andrade in his seminal work, How Taiwan Became Chinese,
RSS