The Taiwan European Film Festival opened yesterday with free screenings of films around the nation, in an effort to promote the EU’s diverse cultures, arts and languages, the organizers said.
The annual festival, now in its 10th year, is screening 17 films from 17 EU countries — including France, Germany, Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Italy — according to the European Economic and Trade Office in Taipei, one of the organizers.
More than 400 screenings are to be held at 31 venues in 14 counties and cities, including the outlying Kinmen County for the first time, European Economic and Trade Office in Taipei Director Frederic Laplanche said yesterday at the opening of the festival in the city.
Because not everyone is able to visit Europe, the festival aims to give access to European films and cultures, he said.
Taiwan European Film Festival director Cedric Alviani said the event is a good way to get a sense of European culture.
“The films that we show are totally representative of European countries’ creativity and diversity,” Alviani said.
When the festival was launched 2005 it attracted between 1,000 and 2,000 people, but the number has been growing each year, he said.
Last year, 18,000 people attended and the organizers are expecting even more this year.
Alviani said he hopes the cultural exchange will encourage Taiwanese artists and audiences in their own creative endeavors.
Among the films being shown at the festival are the award-winning Danish drama The Hunt, the comedy I Enjoy the World With You from the Czech Republic, the Polish drama Life Feels Good and the British documentary Senna.
Vincent Wants to Sea, which won the award for best picture at the 2011 German Film Awards, is also being screened at the festival, which is to run until Nov. 16.
Full information about the films and screening schedule is available at www.teff.tw.
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