A selection of Taiwanese films is being presented by the Taiwan Creative Content Agency via a virtual pavilion at the Cannes Film Festival, which opened in France yesterday.
The online presentation features 30 local filmmakers, two independent directors and 65 works, the agency said.
“The lineup shows the breadth and creative energy of Taiwan’s cultural content,” it said.
Born to be Human (生而為人) by director Lily Ni (倪曜) discusses gender identity issues, while Dead & Beautiful (詭祭) by director David Verbeek is a thriller in the vampire genre, the agency said.
Director Yang Chih-lin’s (楊智麟) Listen Before You Sing (聽見歌再唱), a heartwarming tale about Aboriginal culture and music; director Yao Hung-i’s (姚宏易) Salute (我心我行), a biopic on Taiwanese dancer Sheu Fang-yi (許芳宜); and director Chen Hung-i’s (陳宏一) U Loves You (看不見攻擊的程式), a short film about a romance between a robot and a human, are among the other highlighted films, the agency said.
Taiwanese works have performed well at this year’s Cannes festival, the agency said.
Samsara Ep. 1 (輪迴) by director Huang Hsin-chien (黃心健) and The Abandoned Deity (落難神像) by director Kao Yi-chun (高逸軍) are shortlisted for the VeeR Future Award for Best VR Story and Best VR Interactive Experience, it said.
The two virtual reality (VR) projects are up against 14 other works for the two prizes, it said.
Moneyboys (尋找), a coproduction between Taiwan-based Flash Forward Entertainment and producers in Austria, Belgium and France, has made it into the festival’s Un Certain Regard section, it said.
XiXi, a documentary by Wu Fan (吳璠), is competing for the Docs-in-Progress Award presented as part of the Marche du Film’s Cannes Docs program, it said.
For the Marche du Film’s Cannes XR program, the festival has partnered with NewImages Festival and Tribeca Film Festival to create XR3, a virtual exhibition showcasing the best VR creations, the agency said.
The partnership is “a clear indication of the importance of immersive content development worldwide,” Taiwan Creative Content Agency chief executive officer Lee Ming-che (李明哲) said.
“The agency is grasping this global trend and continues to provide assistance in immersive content creation, talent cultivation and international market development,” Lee said. “How film and TV content is consumed is rapidly shifting globally because of the [COVID-19] pandemic.”
The first of 10 new high-capacity trains purchased from South Korea’s Hyundai Rotem arrived at the Port of Taipei yesterday to meet the demands of an expanding metro network, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. The train completed a three-day, 1,200km voyage from the Port of Masan in South Korea, the company said. Costing NT$590 million (US$18.79 million) each, the new six-carriage trains feature a redesigned interior based on "human-centric" transportation concepts, TRTC said. The design utilizes continuous longitudinal seating to widen the aisles and optimize passenger flow, while also upgrading passenger information displays and driving control systems for a more comfortable
Taiwan's first indigenous defense submarine, the SS-711 Hai Kun (海鯤, or Narwhal), departed for its 13th sea trial at 7am today, marking its seventh submerged test, with delivery to the navy scheduled for July. The outing also marked its first sea deployment since President William Lai (賴清德) boarded the submarine for an inspection on March 19, drawing a crowd of military enthusiasts who gathered to show support. The submarine this morning departed port accompanied by CSBC Corp’s Endeavor Manta (奮進魔鬼魚號) uncrewed surface vessel and a navy M109 assault boat. Amid public interest in key milestones such as torpedo-launching operations and overnight submerged trials,
Quarantine awareness posters at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport have gone viral for their use of wordplay. Issued by the airport branch of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency, the posters feature sniffer dogs making a range of facial expressions, paired with advisory messages built around homophones. “We update the messages for holidays and campaign needs, periodically refreshing materials to attract people’s attention,” quarantine officials said. “The aim is to use the dogs’ appeal to draw focus to quarantine regulations.” A Japanese traveler visiting Taiwan has posted a photo on X of a poster showing a quarantine dog with a
SECURITY RISK: A university student sent a general alarm signal to THSRC’s control center on April 5, causing four operating trains to temporarily halt services The Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday pledged to submit a report on ways to harden the communication security of railway systems after a university student hacked into Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp’s (THSRC) radio communications system and disrupted operations of four high-speed rail trains last month. Investigation by the police and prosecutors found that the university student and radio enthusiast, surnamed Lin (林), first used a software-defined radio (SDR) filter to analyze THSRC signals, downloaded the data to a computer, cracked the parameters and then programmed the codes into his radio devices. Lin then sent a general alarm signal to
RSS