The annual Vancouver Taiwanese Film Festival, held Friday and Saturday, screened 21 films under the theme “Perception and Reality -- Through Taiwan’s Lens” to highlight the island’s cultural richness, according to the organizer.
The two-day event also hosted panel discussions to encourage exchanges between Taiwanese and Canadian filmmakers. About 200 attendees, including Canadian officials, members of the Taiwanese community and film enthusiasts, joined the opening ceremony on Friday.
Now in its 19th year, the festival curated award-winning features such as Daughter’s Daughter (女兒的女兒), Didi (弟弟), Doubles Match (乒乓男孩), Dead Talents Society (鬼才之道) and Salli (莎莉), along with 16 documentaries and shorts exploring themes of romance, social issues, humanitarian care, new immigrant culture and Indigenous perspectives.
Photo: CNA
Festival chair Charlene Liu said the selection demonstrated the breadth and creativity of contemporary Taiwanese cinema, offering Canadian audiences a fresh visual experience.
According to curator Apple Chang (張郁柔), panels this year featured professional filmmakers from Taiwan and Canada covering directing, editing, music, sound design and AI in film. She said the discussions gave young filmmakers guidance and opportunities to showcase their talents.
The opening screening featured a short directed by Lai Chien-hung (賴建宏), a former hospital radiologist who turned to filmmaking last year. The film tells the story of a girl who survived a plane crash learning to cope with trauma.
Canadian MP Jenny Kwan and Vancouver City Councillor Rebecca Bligh, both attending the opening event, praised Taiwan’s democratic values and diversity, calling film a powerful medium to deepen understanding of the country.
Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Vancouver Director Liu Li-hsin (劉立欣) said the festival fostered dialogue between creators and audiences in Taiwan and Canada, showcasing personal and societal stories while reflecting Taiwan’s connections to Canada and the world.
Three batches of banana sauce imported from the Philippines were intercepted at the border after they were found to contain the banned industrial dye Orange G, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. From today through Sept. 2 next year, all seasoning sauces from the Philippines are to be subject to the FDA’s strictest border inspection, meaning 100 percent testing for illegal dyes before entry is allowed, it said in a statement. Orange G is an industrial coloring agent that is not permitted for food use in Taiwan or internationally, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s Northern Center for
The Chinese military has built landing bridge ships designed to expand its amphibious options for a potential assault on Taiwan, but their combat effectiveness is limited due to their high vulnerability, a defense expert said in an analysis published on Monday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a research fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said that the deployment of such vessels as part of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy’s East Sea Fleet signals a strong focus on Taiwan. However, the ships are highly vulnerable to precision strikes, which means they could be destroyed before they achieve their intended
LOOKING NORTH: The base would enhance the military’s awareness of activities in the Bashi Channel, which China Coast Guard ships have been frequenting, an expert said The Philippine Navy on Thursday last week inaugurated a forward operating base in the country’s northern most province of Batanes, which at 185km from Taiwan would be strategically important in a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait. The Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Northern Luzon Command Commander Lieutenant General Fernyl Buca as saying that the base in Mahatao would bolster the country’s northern defenses and response capabilities. The base is also a response to the “irregular presence this month of armed” of China Coast Guard vessels frequenting the Bashi Channel in the Luzon Strait just south of Taiwan, the paper reported, citing a
About 4.2 million tourist arrivals were recorded in the first half of this year, a 10 percent increase from the same period last year, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. The growth continues to be consistent, with the fourth quarter of this year expected to be the peak in Taiwan, the agency said, adding that it plans to promote Taiwan overseas via partnerships and major events. From January to June, 9.14 million international departures were recorded from Taiwan, an 11 percent increase from the same period last year, with 3.3 million headed for Japan, 1.52 million for China and 832,962 to South Korea,
RSS