Two films by Taiwanese directors are to be featured at the Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival, which opens today, the Ministry of Culture said yesterday.
Dorm by director So Yo-hen (蘇育賢) and The Lucky Woman (逃跑的人) by director Tseng Wen-chen (曾文珍) have both been selected for the festival’s New Asian Currents program, the ministry said in a statement.
In his 54-minute film, So documents the experiences of migrant workers in Taiwan and invites Vietnamese women working in a factory to participate in discussions in the form of a workshop, the ministry said.
The film is based on real events that happened at a women’s dormitory in New Taipei City, it said.
The Lucky Woman, which runs for 87 minutes, tells the stories of two Vietnamese migrant workers in Taiwan and it took eight years to make, the ministry said.
It follows the main characters back to Vietnam and attempts to understand their families’ culture, it said.
The film demonstrates a Taiwanese director’s long-lasting concern for foreign migrant workers, it added.
Dorm is to hold its world premiere at the festival tomorrow, while The Lucky Woman is making its overseas debut, the ministry said, describing the event as Asia’s most important international documentary film festival.
Both films are competing for the Ogawa Shinsuke Prize — the highest honor presented in the New Asian Currents section, it said.
This year’s 17th edition of the festival is being held online due to the COVID-19 pandemic and runs until Thursday next week, its Web site says.
As part of the festival, So, Tseng and Japanese director Ishida Tomoya, whose film Transform! is included in the festival’s Perspectives Japan program, are to lead an online discussion, the Taiwan Cultural Center in Tokyo said.
The discussion is titled “Sharing Air, Living Time” and is being held from 11am to 12:30pm on Monday next week, according to the festival itinerary.
The speakers “will explore how important it is to be allowed to feel present as a participant of wider society and how simple recognition can be denied,” it says.
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