This year the Taipei Film Festival will focus on the theme of cities, most
particularly the cities of Paris and Prague. But before the important
content comes on - and there are some outstanding works which Taipei
audiences might otherwise have little chance to see - the festival will
first take a look closer to home.
The Urban Community Film Festival has been instituted as part of the Taipei
Film Festival to encourage local filmmakers. And with the city government
putting up substantial prize money for the winners, many emerging and some
established directors have taken part, ensuring that this part of the
festival - which starts on Sunday - will also have a representative sample
of some of Taiwan's best films.
The total prize money of NT$1 million will be distributed among four
categories and will include animation, documentary films, feature films and
also an amateur category. Films such as Cheng Yu-chieh's(鄭有傑) Summer,
Dream(石碇的夏天), have already featured in the Golden Horse Awards, while
others probably have less chance for public screenings outside such
festivals. According to a statement by Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), he hopes
that Taiwan's filmmakers, by turning their eyes on their own city, will
create the same kind of cinematic record of Taipei as French and Czech
filmmakers have for Paris and Prague. The imported films will be screening
from March 3.
Screenings will be held on Feb. 24 to Feb. 28 at the Taipei International
Artists Village (台北國際藝術村). Screenings will be repeated between March
13 to March 15 at the Social Education Center (社教館). All screenings are
free. Schedules can be obtained from the Social Education Center or at
Chungshan Hall (中山堂). More information can be obtained by calling (02)
2395-3170.
In 2012, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) heroically seized residences belonging to the family of former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), “purchased with the proceeds of alleged bribes,” the DOJ announcement said. “Alleged” was enough. Strangely, the DOJ remains unmoved by the any of the extensive illegality of the two Leninist authoritarian parties that held power in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and Taiwan. If only Chen had run a one-party state that imprisoned, tortured and murdered its opponents, his property would have been completely safe from DOJ action. I must also note two things in the interests of completeness.
Taiwan is especially vulnerable to climate change. The surrounding seas are rising at twice the global rate, extreme heat is becoming a serious problem in the country’s cities, and typhoons are growing less frequent (resulting in droughts) but more destructive. Yet young Taiwanese, according to interviewees who often discuss such issues with this demographic, seldom show signs of climate anxiety, despite their teachers being convinced that humanity has a great deal to worry about. Climate anxiety or eco-anxiety isn’t a psychological disorder recognized by diagnostic manuals, but that doesn’t make it any less real to those who have a chronic and
When Bilahari Kausikan defines Singapore as a small country “whose ability to influence events outside its borders is always limited but never completely non-existent,” we wish we could say the same about Taiwan. In a little book called The Myth of the Asian Century, he demolishes a number of preconceived ideas that shackle Taiwan’s self-confidence in its own agency. Kausikan worked for almost 40 years at Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, reaching the position of permanent secretary: saying that he knows what he is talking about is an understatement. He was in charge of foreign affairs in a pivotal place in
Just far enough out of reach to keep big crowds away, but not so far as to make a day-trip an exhausting affair, Jinhuang Hot Spring (近黃溫泉) is a nice winter escape for your next visit to Taitung County. The pools are numerous, the water is the perfect temperature and the walk in is not too challenging, though you will have to get your feet wet. The adventure starts in the county’s Jinlun Village (金崙), which is accessible by train, but you’ll want to have your own car, scooter or bicycle for this trip. If you arrive by train, walk up
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