President Chen moves to promote local movies

Who says Taiwanese people don't like their home-made films? Certainly not President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁). Which is why the president is taking steps to dispel the myth.

On Thursday, Chen will be attending the screening of the award-winning Taiwanese film Somewhere Over the Dreamland (夢幻部落), to show his support for local filmmakers.

As the film is one of the few featuring Taiwanese aborigines and was recognized at international film festivals, Chen has invited 20 aboriginal representatives to join him for the screening. Accompanying Chen will be Taipei City Mayor Ma Ying-jeou and several Taipei City councilors.

Filmmaker Cheng Wen-tang's (鄭文堂) Somewhere Over the Dreamland was a winner at Venice Film Festival's International Critic's Week, and also winner of Best Taiwan Film of the Year at the Golden Horse Awards.

The film is a love story about an Atayal Aborigine's life in the city and his lost dream of an idyllic life owning a rice field in the mountains.

The film displays sophisticated emotions and was praised by acclaimed director Hou Hsiao-hsien (侯孝賢) as the most touching, well-made Taiwanese film of the year.

The film is now showing in the recently established art-house film theater -- SPOT, Taipei Film House (台北之家).