The seventh edition of Taiwan Film Festival Berlin is to open tomorrow at the Moviemento theater in Berlin and seeks to shine a spotlight on the often overlooked social minorities through the lenses of seven Taiwanese feature-length films, the Ministry of Culture said.
The festival’s opening film, And Miles to Go Before I Sleep (九槍), directed by Tsai Tsung-lung (蔡崇隆), is a documentary about Vietnamese migrant worker Nguyen Quoc Phi, who was shot by a police officer nine times after attempting to steal a car.
In an age when anti-immigrant sentiment and nationalism are prevalent around the world, the documentary would hopefully provide insight and spark debate among the German public, the ministry said.
Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Culture via CNA
The Terrorizers (恐怖份子), directed by Edward Yang (楊德昌), and Dust of Angels (少年?,安啦!), directed by Hsu Hsiao-ming (徐小明), depict the struggles and loneliness of social minorities in Taiwan, it said.
Adapted from one of the most famous classical Chinese dramas, the multilingual Malaysian historical drama, Snow in Midsummer (五月雪) revolves around the “May 13 Incident” in Malaysia, when violence between ethnic Malays and ethnic Chinese in Kuala Lumpur on May 13, 1969, resulted in the declaration of a national state of emergency.
The film is an international collaboration between Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia and features cast from the three countries.
The animation Pigsy (八戒), directed by Chiu Li-wei (邱立偉), is a metaphor for minorities marginalized in society. Meanwhile, Sall (莎莉), directed by Lien Chien-hung (練建宏), is a love story, and Fish Memories (（真）新的一天), directed by Chen Hung-i (陳宏一), delves into a love triangle.
A festival segment spotlighting short films has also been added. Of the six films that made the cut, five are Taiwanese productions, including Trust Game (信任遊戲) by Lin Chih-yu, Iris (小埃) by Tsai I-chieh (蔡宜潔), OBE by Jared Yeh (葉子瑞), Absolutely No Sexual Favors / Je Pense A Toi (吾想汝顯) by Tong Xie (謝忠橦) and Sugarcoat (糖醫) by Joey Chang (張芳語).
The other short film, Inner Need of Karaoke, by Czech directors Radek Sevcik and Petr Chromcak, was filmed in Taipei’s Jiantan area and is a unique take on Taiwan’s karaoke culture, the ministry said.
Impression Taiwan, which curated the festival, in a statement said the festival’s theme is “On the Edge,” and its seeks to shine a spotlight on social minorities, and although the subject might appear gloomy, by zooming in on the experience of minorities, some stereotypes would hopefully be proven wrong.
For example, Taiwan is often sidelined at international events, but has still managed to earn recognition in unexpected ways, it said.
The Taipei Representative Office in the Federal Republic of Germany, which co-organized the six-day event with the ministry, said the festival has served to showcase the appeal of Taiwanese movies and promote cultural exchanges.
Forums and banquets where Taiwanese filmmakers and representatives from Berlin production companies can meet and explore possibilities for collaboration would also be held, further positioning the event as a platform for professional exchanges, the office said.
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