Au Revoir, Taipei, (一頁台北), a romantic comedy set in Taipei City, won the Best Asian Film Award from the Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema (NETPAC) at the Berlin International Film Festival on Saturday, beating 11 other Asian entries.
The love story, which takes place over the course of one evening in Taipei City, was produced by German director Wim Wenders and directed by Arvin Chen (陳駿霖).
Chen is no stranger to the Berlin film festival. He won a Silver Berlin Bear-Jury Grand Prix for Short Films for a short he made titled May in 2007.
PHOTO: CNA
Starring singer Amber Kuo (郭采潔), Jack Yao (姚淳耀) and Joseph Chang (張孝全), Au Revoir, Taipei screened to packed audiences and won loud applause in Berlin.
Frank Chen (陳志寬), director of the Government Information Office’s (GIO) Motion Picture Affairs Department, conveyed the government’s congratulations to Chen on Saturday over the honor.
By winning the top award at NETPAC, which is an alliance of the Berlin film festival organizers, Au Revoir, Taipei now has the opportunity of winning a prize of NT$1.5 million (US$47,000) awarded by the GIO.
Another Taiwanese movie, Monga (艋舺), which has enjoyed huge box office success in Taiwan, was also screened at the festival, but did not win a prize.
Upon learning of the victory in Berlin, Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) said the performance of the two movies filmed in Taipei was a successful marketing campaign for the city.
Various aspects of Taipei, including the MRT system, night markets and the round-the-clock Eslite bookstore, all feature in the film.
“From Monga to Au Revoir Taipei, the Taipei Film Commission has worked closely with film production teams during the filming process and turned the movies into successful campaign for the city,” Hau told reporters while inspecting a construction site in the city yesterday. “Our cooperation with film crews not only increases publicity and visibility of Taipei worldwide, but also made many movie scenes new destinations for visitors to the city.”
In the making of the movie Monga, the city government closed streets to facilitate the filming, while for Au Revoir Taipei, the city government closed off an MRT station, allowing the crew to use an MRT train for filming and even dispatched real police officers to play police in the movie.
The city government cooperated with 15 countries in the production of 25 motion pictures last year, Hau said.
Outgoing GIO Minister Su Jun-pin (蘇俊賓) sent a message to the Au Revoir, Taipei team in Berlin to congratulate them for winning the award.
Au Revoir, Taipei and Monga will both receive GIO money.
“As it won an award at an international film festival, the production team of Au Revoir, Taipei will be awarded NT$1.5 million for their achievement,” GIO Motion Picture Affairs Department Director Joanne Tien (田又安) told the Taipei Times by telephone.
“Monga will receive a NT$200,000 prize for being nominated,” she said.
The Berlin International Film Festival concluded yesterday.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY LOA IOK-SIN
FIREPOWER: On top of the torpedoes, the military would procure Kestrel II anti-tank weapons systems to replace aging license-produced M72 LAW launchers Taiwan is to receive US-made Mark 48 torpedoes and training simulators over the next three years, following delays that hampered the navy’s operational readiness, the Ministry of National Defense’s latest budget proposal showed. The navy next year would acquire four training simulator systems for the torpedoes and take receipt of 14 torpedoes in 2027 and 10 torpedoes in 2028, the ministry said in its budget for the next fiscal year. The torpedoes would almost certainly be utilized in the navy’s two upgraded Chien Lung-class submarines and the indigenously developed Hai Kun, should the attack sub successfully reach operational status. US President Donald Trump
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is expected to start construction of its 1.4-nanometer chip manufacturing facilities at the Central Taiwan Science Park (CTSP, 中部科學園區) as early as October, the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) reported yesterday, citing the park administration. TSMC acquired land for the second phase of the park’s expansion in Taichung in June. Large cement, construction and facility engineering companies in central Taiwan have reportedly been receiving bids for TSMC-related projects, the report said. Supply-chain firms estimated that the business opportunities for engineering, equipment and materials supply, and back-end packaging and testing could reach as high as
ALL QUIET: The Philippine foreign secretary told senators she would not respond to questions about whether Lin Chia-lung was in the country The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday confirmed that a business delegation is visiting the Philippines, but declined to say whether Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) is part of the group, as Philippine lawmakers raised questions over Lin’s reported visit. The group is being led by Deputy Minister of Agriculture Huang Chao-chin (黃昭欽), Chinese International Economic Cooperation Association (CIECA) chairman Joseph Lyu (呂桔誠) and US-Taiwan Business Council (USTBC) vice president Lotta Danielsson, the ministry said in a statement. However, sources speaking on condition of anonymity said that Lin is leading the delegation of 70 people. Filinvest New Clark City Innovation Park
DEFENSIVE EDGE: The liaison officer would work with Taiwan on drones and military applications for other civilian-developed technologies, a source said A Pentagon unit tasked with facilitating the US military’s adoption of new technology is soon to deploy officials to dozens of friendly nations, including Taiwan, the Financial Times reported yesterday. The US Department of Defense’s Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) is to send a representative to collaborate with Taiwan on drones and military applications from the semiconductor industry by the end of the year, the British daily reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “Drones will certainly be a focus, but they will also be looking at connecting to the broader civilian and dual-use ecosystem, including the tech sector,” one source was