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
It starts out as a heartwarming clip. A young girl, clearly delighted to be in Tokyo, beams as she makes a peace sign to the camera. Seconds later, she is shoved to the ground from behind by a woman wearing a surgical mask. The assailant doesn’t skip a beat, striding out of shot of the clip filmed by the girl’s mother. This was no accidental clash of shoulders in a crowded place, but one of the most visible examples of a spate of butsukari otoko — “bumping man” — shoving incidents in Japan that experts attribute to a combination of gender
The race for New Taipei City mayor is being keenly watched, and now with the nomination of former deputy mayor of Taipei Hammer Lee (李四川) as the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) candidate, the battle lines are drawn. All polling data on the tight race mentioned in this column is from the March 12 Formosa poll. On Christmas Day 2010, Taipei County merged into one mega-metropolis of four million people, making it the nation’s largest city. The same day, the winner of the mayoral race, Eric Chu (朱立倫) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), took office and insisted on the current
Last week the government announced that by year’s end Taiwan will have the highest density of anti-ship missiles in the world. Its inventory could exceed 1,400, or enough for the opening two hours of an invasion from the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Snark aside, it sounds impressive. But an important piece is missing. Lost in all the “dialogues” and “debates” and “discussions” whose sole purpose is simply to dawdle and delay is what the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) alternative special defense budget proposal means for the defense of Taiwan. It is a betrayal of both Taiwan and the US. IT’S
March 16 to March 22 Hidden for decades behind junk-filled metal shacks, trees and overgrowth, a small domed structure bearing a Buddhist swastika resurfaced last June in a Taichung alley. It was soon identified as a remnant of the 122-year-old Gokokuzan Taichuu-ji (Taichung Temple, 護國山台中寺), which was thought to have been demolished in the 1980s. In addition, a stone stele dedicated to monk Hoshu Ono, who served as abbot from 1914 to 1930, was discovered in the detritus. The temple was established in 1903 as the local center for the Soto school
RSS