The 25th edition of the Taipei Film Festival opened on Thursday evening with the premiere of writer-cum-director Giddens Ko’s (九把刀) new romantic comedy, Miss Shampoo (請問，還有哪裡需要加強).
Speaking with reporters, Ko said he was thrilled that his latest movie, an adaptation of his 2010 novel Precisely Out of Control (精準的失控), premiered at the Taipei Zhongshan Hall, where he made his directorial debut in 2011 with You Are the Apple of My Eye (那些年，我們ㄧ起追的女孩).
Miss Shampoo tells a romantic story between an aspiring apprentice hairdresser, played by Vivian Sung (宋芸樺), and a passionate gang leader, played by Hung Yu-hung (洪瑜鴻), who is better known as a member of Taiwanese hip-hop group Nine One One (玖壹壹).
Photo courtesy of the Taipei Film Festival via CNA
Another movie that premiered last night at the festival was One Second Ahead, One Second Behind, a Japanese adaptation of the 2020 Golden Horse Best Feature Film winner My Missing Valentine (消失的情人節).
The film’s director, Nobuhiro Yamashita, and lead actor, Masaki Okada, were to attend the premier last night and interact with movie fans after the showing.
As part of the festival’s “Filmmaker in Focus” program, five movies by German writer-director Angela Schanelec are to be shown, including I Was at Home, But..., which bagged the Silver Bear for Best Director at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2019.
Four movies by Belgian director Bas Devos will be screened under the same program, including Ghost Tropic and Hellhole.
The two-week festival will be followed by the Taipei Film Awards ceremony on the evening of July 8, when the grand prize, featuring a trophy and NT$1 million (US$32,342) in prize money, is to be presented to a Taiwanese film nominated for best feature film, best documentary, best short film or best animation.
Eye of the Storm (疫起), director Lin Chun-yang’s (林君陽) movie inspired by the 2003 SARS outbreak in Taiwan, leads this year’s awards with 13 nominations, including best feature film, best director and best screenplay.
Other movies that are up for best feature film are last year’s Golden Horse Awards Best Feature winner Coo-Coo 043 (一家子兒咕咕叫), as well as Gaga (哈勇家), The Abandoned (查無此心) and Bad Education (黑的教育).
Lin, known for his TV series Wave Makers (人選之人—造浪者) and The World Between Us (我們與惡的距離), is also competing for best director alongside documentary filmmaker Tsai Tsung-Lung (蔡崇隆) and Laha Mebow (陳潔瑤), who won at last year’s Golden Horse Awards for Gaga, among others.
SHIPS, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES: The ministry has announced changes to varied transportation industries taking effect soon, with a number of effects for passengers Beginning next month, the post office is canceling signature upon delivery and written inquiry services for international registered small packets in accordance with the new policy of the Universal Postal Union, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday. The new policy does not apply to packets that are to be delivered to China, the ministry said. Senders of international registered small packets would receive a NT$10 rebate on postage if the packets are sent from Jan. 1 to March 31, it added. The ministry said that three other policies are also scheduled to take effect next month. International cruise ship operators
NUMBERS IMBALANCE: More than 4 million Taiwanese have visited China this year, while only about half a million Chinese have visited here Beijing has yet to respond to Taiwan’s requests for negotiation over matters related to the recovery of cross-strait tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. Taiwan’s tourism authority issued the statement after Chinese-language daily the China Times reported yesterday that the government’s policy of banning group tours to China does not stop Taiwanese from visiting the country. As of October, more than 4.2 million had traveled to China this year, exceeding last year. Beijing estimated the number of Taiwanese tourists in China could reach 4.5 million this year. By contrast, only 500,000 Chinese tourists are expected in Taiwan, the report said. The report
HORROR STORIES: One victim recounted not realizing they had been stabbed and seeing people bleeding, while another recalled breaking down in tears after fleeing A man on Friday died after he tried to fight the knife-wielding suspect who went on a stabbing spree near two of Taipei’s busiest metro stations, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. The 57-year-old man, identified by his family name, Yu (余), encountered the suspect at Exit M7 of Taipei Main Station and immediately tried to stop him, but was fatally wounded and later died, Chiang said, calling the incident “heartbreaking.” Yu’s family would receive at least NT$5 million (US$158,584) in compensation through the Taipei Rapid Transit Corp’s (TRTC) insurance coverage, he said after convening an emergency security response meeting yesterday morning. National
The Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency yesterday launched a gift box to market honey “certified by a Formosan black bear” in appreciation of a beekeeper’s amicable interaction with a honey-thieving bear. Beekeeper Chih Ming-chen (池明鎮) in January inspected his bee farm in Hualien County’s Jhuosi Township (卓溪) and found that more than 20 beehives had been destroyed and many hives were eaten, with bear droppings and paw prints near the destroyed hives, the agency said. Chih returned to the farm to move the remaining beehives away that evening when he encountered a Formosan black bear only 20m away, the agency said. The bear
RSS