The seventh Taipei Film Festival kicked off yesterday at the Chungshan Hall in downtown Taipei, with the premiere of Three Times, a film directed by world-acclaimed Taiwanese director Hou Hsiao-hsien (侯孝賢).
The venue was very "Russian" yesterday, with a series of live dance and music performances at the Chungshan Hall square as part of the festival's "City-Vision" section, which focuses this year on two Russian cities with rich cultural traditions and complex histories -- Moscow and Saint Petersburg.
The festival has another new section -- the New Talent Competition -- aimed at encouraging young and talented filmmakers. A total of 14 films from around the world have been nominated and the winner will be awarded NT$650,000 (US$20,700) at a presentation slated for July 1, according to the organizer.
The competition jury is made up of Wang Toon (王童), Clara Law (羅卓瑤), Fruit Chan (陳果), Lin Cheng-shen (林正盛) and Jia Zhanke (賈樟柯), directors from Taiwan, Hong Kong and China. A total of 138 international and local films will be screened in the two-week festival.
The festival's general director, Edmond Wong, said that as of Friday, around NT$4.5 million had been taken in advanced ticket sales, surpassing the total box office record of last year's film fair.
The festival will close July 9 after an award presentation ceremony for the annual "Taipei Film Award" and "Taipei Theme Award."
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost