128 Matches Found
The film sketches the lives and tribulations of some of those kids the college girl on summer break, the boys from the neighbouring province who only want to do hip-hop and through them we get a real glimpse of what makes Shanghai today a promising big city.
It seems quite outdated to talk about left-wingism and socialism in today's Taiwan. But through the story of Shi, we learn what classism, Marxism and White Terror had meant on the island. Aged 83 now, Shi recalls how his friends were arrested and killed by the government in 1946 simply because they had a different political belief...
The original subject intended for this film was a spiritual medium who was unbelievably accurate. Tsai Ming-liang jumped on his 50cc motorbike, equipped with a DV camera ready to shoot her, to see whether the god would speak to his camera. But on the way, he was caught in a traffic jam of people gathered at another god’s festival. A man in a trance, flashy karaoke girls on stage, a power black-out. During his diversion, the camera discovers fish and underground passages
Focusing on Mark Lee Ping-bin, one of the most talented and prolific cinematographers in Asia, the movie details the itinerant lifestyle of a deeply observant and philosophical artist and the tolls that his profession takes on his family life.
A TV program "One Million Star" was firstly aired in 2007. It claimed to be the biggest singing contest in Taiwanese TV history and promised the first-place winner a record contract and one million NT dollars (about 30,000 USD). The show caused an unanticipated sensation. Through this film, we will see how Taiwanese young people hang on to their dreams in a seemingly hopeless and desperate society.
Richly illustrated with film clips and interviews, OUR TIME, OUR STORY tells the still-evolving story of the Taiwanese "new wave," from its rise in the early 1980s, as the island was democratizing after decades under martial law, through growing international recognition and domestic debate in the 1990s. Spearheaded in its early years by such filmmakers as Edward Yang, Ko I-cheng, Hou Hsiao-hsien and Wan Jen, the movement revitalized Taiwan cinema through low-budget experiments that emphasized personal stories, political reflection and stylistic invention. Said filmmakers, writers and actors like Wu Nien-jen and Sylvia Chang, even "second wave" directors Tsai Ming-liang and Lin Cheng-sheng provide fond reminiscences and retrospective insights in this compelling account of one of the most distinctive national cinemas of the last quarter-century.
French-made documentary, "Métro Lumière", which actually does help provide some of the context for Hsiao-hsien's approach to the film. It includes excerpts from Ozu's films, in particular, "Equinox Flower", to show the parallels with this film, the obvious basis for some of the scenes and situation set-ups.
The essence of progress in civilization has always been handiwork. In traditional Chinese civilization, the emperor was supreme. Vested with the authority to enjoy the best of handiwork, all crafts used for residence, clothing, food, and travel were the most refined and splendid.
Using footage shot between 1974 and 1978, this experimental documentary offers an intimate portrait of Hung Tung, one of Taiwan’s most singular outsider artists. Born in 1920 in Nankunshen, Tainan, orphaned at a young age, Hung Tung worked as a laborer, fisherman, and spiritual medium before suddenly beginning to paint at fifty. His densely imagined world—filled with plants, humans, animals, gods, ghosts, and symbols—captivated the Taiwanese art scene of the 1970s and secured his reputation as a legendary folk artist. Combining observational footage, interviews, and a distinctive musical structure—from Tibor Szemző’s evocation of innocence to Leonard Cohen’s “Bird on the Wire”—the film traces a life of solitude, frustration, and pride, shaping a restrained yet poignant portrait of an artist who remained fiercely autonomous within his own inner universe.
"In 2001, I used my camera to document the experiences of two friends of mone. As I looked through the lens, I realized that their life had been slipping away, entering isolation and alienation, and we couldn't do anything about it." Two idle teenagers. How do they live their lives? Making phone calls. fixing bikes, listening to music and what else? As an objective observer, the film uses simple language to document slices of the two teenagers' lives. The teenagers' world is wild, glorious and totally bizarre...
The title of the François Lunel film is the Buddhist proverb concluding by: "all is but illusion". His movie draws the Tsai Ming-Liang's face during the shooting of his movie Visage, which itself is also a movie within a movie.
"I'm a cultured woman, travelling about footloose and fancy-free…”So begins a lilting tune from Taiwan's“Dance Age”of the 1920s and 1930s, a paradoxical time when the island's occupation by Japan also brought youth culture and a measure of artistic freedom. Women smoked cigarettes, love scandals were rife, and risqué Taiwanese pop was born. Embarking on a voyage to visit the surviving singers, composers and record aficionados of the era, this lively historical documentary mixes engaging interviews with catchy songs, haunting period footage, and reenactments of the unrequited romance between the adored chanteuse Chun Chun and her songwriter CHEN Chun-Yu.
"Bohemians in Taipei: The Life of Theatre" documents a group of artists living in Taipei who have committed themselves to creating and performing theatre. Some are no longer young, but theatre work continues to incite their creativity. They are either out of work, working part-time, or have temporary jobs; but theatre is still the main thing in their lives. Theatre provides a minimal and unstable income, and their lifestyles are remarkably thirfty and frugal. But these financial shortcomings do not limit their theatrical ambitions.
In 1996, Dr Wen's son, committed suicide in their home in Iowa City. Devastated, Dr Wen moved to Miami and years later would treat a young boy from Peru with cancer named Sebastian. Sebastian's optimism inspires Dr. Wen as we follow this inspiring story of youth and compassion.
What do you think of when you think of a grain of rice? Let It Be is a documentary that records the daily labor and lives of three elderly rice farmers in Tainan County’s Houbi Township. In the heart of Taiwan’s rice-producing country, they have passed their days shedding a bead of sweat to match each grain of rice. The film depicts their lifestyles which have changed little over the last half-century. Observing their toil at work and the way they go about their lives allows the viewer to appreciate the wisdom that imbues their lives and the fascinating dynamics of their relationships with each other, their animals, the gods, the weather, and the land. Between the vastness of the heavens and the joys and sorrows of the earth and its inhabitants, each farmer fulfills his unique destiny.
Hong Kong and Taiwan are 2 islands inextricably linked by their huge neighbour. Modern metropolises full of eastern traditions, they're forging forward in the 21st century as China's little dragons. Traveller Megan McCormick begins her journey in Hong Kong, looking out at the incredible skyline from Victoria Peak. She then takes in the contrasts of the city before taking the ferry visit Tap Mum Chau and Lantau Island. After a flight to Taiwan she explores the capital Taipei, ending her trip with a visit to its most remote outpost - Orchid Island.
Taiwan has 20 million inhabitants, and 12,5 million motorbikes. My 747 is the directors personal story, about his motorbike and their life together over the last eight years.
Deng Nan-guang (鄧南光, 1907–1971), Chang Tsai (張才, 1916–1994), and Lee Ming-tiao (李鳴鵰, 1922–2013) are regarded as three of the most important prewar-generation photographers in Taiwanese photographic history, collectively known as the “Three Musketeers of Photography”. Directed by Chang Chao-Tang (張照堂), this documentary revisits their artistic trajectories, photographic styles, historical contexts, and contributions to the development of documentary photography in Taiwan. Particularly valuable are the interview segments featuring Chang Tsai and Lee Ming-tiao themselves, which preserve rare firsthand testimonies from two pivotal figures in early Taiwanese realist photography.
A documentary included with Jolin Tsai's 2006 compilation album J-Top. Includes behind the scenes footage of music videos, performance recordings, and various other content such as dance practice recordings.
Documenting outsider artist Lin Yuan (林淵, 1913-1992), a self-taught folk artist from Nantou (南投), and his stone sculptures—works marked by simplicity, naturalness, and a vital rural vernacular spirit.
Two men diligently unload equipment and materials from a truck, put pipes together, and build a stage for a puppet theater. No matter how few people are in the audience, the show starts and ends as it always has. Convincingly, as if to impress it on our minds, the camera registers from a corner the dust-covered projector and film lying idle in a warehouse, and the presence of the men steadily going about their business. Quietly criss-crossing people and places with the camera onboard, giving way to cars on the farm road, the traveling puppet theater carries with it the ambience of a bygone era in Taiwan.
"On the Road" has neither script nor narration. It only includes music and percussion by Nana Vasconcelos and Ralph Towner, as well as singing and lute music by a blind woman. The counterpoint and interweaving of these passages in time seem to communicate the transmigration of life and the flow of time. Birth and death move in a cycle like the eternal earth, and people can only constantly walk along the road.
In Taiwan, pigeon racing is not only a sport but also a national obsession where more than 30,000 Taiwanese pigeon racers devote their lives to chasing a dream of fame amd fortune. It's a sport awash with rumor of race fixing, mafia and even kidnappings. Professional pigeon racer Tsai Fong Chi has what it takes to make it big in the next pigeon games. His family is depending on him and much is at stake. With little success since his last big winning streak, his cash reserves have dwindled and he needs to win and win big. Can Tsai's favorite pigeon make it to the final races and bring home the grand prize?
Tsai Ming-liang designed this short film as a farewell to his friend Simon Field, who was about to leave his position as director of the Rotterdam Festival after eight years in office. The piece follows two dogs roaming the Tamshui River in Taipei, accompanied by the director's voice-over as he reads a written dedication for Field.
The film was shot in two periods. Initially, during Kuo's visit to Ching-wen rebuilding his parents' home, unplanned as a documentary. Later, funding came, but Ching-wen left for Taipei. Kuo returned to Orchid Island, capturing memories of Ching-wen.
Portrait of a relaxed and friendly gay bar in Taiwan in the weeks before it closed due to police harrasment.
Times were hard in Taiwan after 1949. Thousands of refugees fled to this mountainous island escaping the communist army. Still, Taiwan became a fully self-sufficient country in, for example, rice production. This documentary follows the daily life of old farmers, whose lifestyle and rhythm has not been affected by any of the turbulent changes in the Taiwanese society. tradition, hard work – an almost lost world, which has been keeping the entire society alive for almost 60 years.
A team of an entrepreneur, an athlete and a student from Taiwan arrived in the Arctic Circle. Through their participation in the 2008 Polar Challenge – a 600 km race to the Magnetic North Pole, they’ve realized their dreams. They experienced hypothermia and attack from polar bears en route.
Hebei origin, air-force officer retiree, Mr. Chou, now diligently learning Taiwanese, met “Chang Jiang No. 1,” China’s top secret agent during Sino-Japanese war, on a Peking opera’ seminar. Chou’s flat moon life has then been sparkled. He started to talk around about the heroic accomplishments this “Chang Jiang No.1” had done. This person, “who contributes most to China,” gradually becomes Chou’s only mark on the Moon. Is “homesickness” a gene? Inheritable? Transplantable? Can be parted or chosen? Contagious? Needs regular purging like computer viruses? … Through the story between Mr. Chou and “Chang Jiang No.1.” the film uses lively rhythm to represent the interesting homesickness issue. The director adopts a humorous way to re-present these new Taiwanese in Taiwan. As for whether “Chang Jiang No.1” is a real person or not is up to the audience to decide.
The film documents boxer Jia-Ling Chen participating in a world-class boxing competition. With her bare hands, this young woman of twenty-something exemplifies young people's relentless efforts to go after their dreams.
This is a 3-part love story. One girl is talking a story of her ex-boyfriend. He went aboard to chase for homosexual love. Although she stayed home, both of them are experiencing almost simultaneously unbounded sexual exploring journey in each end. The traditional narrative monologue is manipulated as a link to all the experimental segments. As the story goes on, the emotion of those original extremely abstract experimental footages are becoming touchable and understandable.
This landmark dance film presents Legacy, a defining work by Lin Hwai-min and Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan, directed for screen by Chang Chao-Tang. Premiered in 1978, the work marked one of the first major theatrical productions centered on Taiwan’s own history, leaving a powerful and immediate impact. Built on a strong sense of ritual, Legacy evokes collective memory and identity, reflecting Cloud Gate’s commitment to engaging with society and history through dance. This documentary captures a 2003 performance for the company’s 30th anniversary. With live percussion by JUT Percussion Group and the voice of Chen Da, the dancers push their physical limits in an intense and deeply emotional staging.
This is a behind-the-scenes documentary of "Double Vision", a Hollywood film shot in Taiwan. In 2001, Taiwan was struck by as many as nine typhoons, bringing with them an extraordinary amount of rainfall. That same year marked the first time the Hollywood film industry arrived in Taiwan with substantial funding and manpower. Although this documentary follows a production boasting an impressive international cast, it also captures a more complex reality: when the powerful machinery of Hollywood enters a country whose own film industry has all but disappeared, what should we be questioning or reflecting upon in this model of transnational collaboration? Like the typhoons that repeatedly swept across Taiwan during filming, what else did they bring besides torrential rain?
Between 1979 and 1983, 117 violent and gritty social realist pictures were produced in Taiwan. Many of these found their way around the world courtesy of Hong Kong's IFD films.
Against the backdrop of Taiwan's turbulent presidential elections in 2004, TIGERWOMEN GROW WINGS portrays three women of different generations. Noted opera singer Hsieh Yueh-hsia, internationally renowned writer Li Ang, and 23-year-old film director Chen Yin-jung are featured in this documentary, which focuses on the changes taking place in the lives of women in Taiwan's youthful democracy.
Traditionally the Tao people always harvest flying fish and dolphin from their plank boats in the southern waters. In the summer of 2007 they rowed westward to the unfamiliar water across the Kuroshio to call on the civilized Taiwan for a change. On their journey to Taiwan the Tao people have found themselves in a predicament under the circumstances of contemporary civilization and modern Taiwanese society.
Stone Dream records the daily life of Liu and his family and, by means of interviews with the protagonist and his neighbours, describes the complex ethnic relationships in Taiwan, where many Chinese live who have started families with native Taiwanese. The stones from the title are the rocks from the river that sometimes, in their polished form, display beautiful landscapes, as a symbol of inner beauty. When his wife dies, the now elderly Liu wants to return to his fatherland, but at the same time he realises that he will no longer feel at home there. He has become too strongly attached to his new fatherland Taiwan, where his son and grandson were born.
The fate of the three coral atolls in northern Taiwan was decided by the migration history of the humans. A land does not always require human explanations to give it a meaning. "Silent Delta" is a film based on the testimonies of nature. A beached ocean-liner on Pinnacle Island; a lone goat who has lived on Cotton Island for five years; and on Peng-Jia Island, an apparition of a Japanese soldier, left behind from the times of the Japanese invasion. We come to the islands and devour these scenes with our cameras... Wandering between these three islands, we become a part of this silent ghostly landscape.
Taiwanese documentary about the life of Tao, a Lanyu tribesman and how the director's life and relationship has grown and changed.
The film documents the harrowing experiences of 16 survivors of Taiwan's White Terror period. Using a minimalist aesthetic, the documentary features the victims speaking directly to the camera against a stark black background, interspersed with rare historical photographs and archival documents.Without any added narration, the film allows the survivors to piece together a collective memory of state oppression. They recount their personal nightmares of being arrested on fabricated charges, undergoing brutal interrogations and torture, facing unjust military trials, and enduring years of forced labor and ideological re-education on Green Island. It serves as a powerful oral history, capturing not only their past suffering but also their resilience, solidarity, and the difficult journey of returning home.
The true story of Mei Lanfang, China's greatest opera star; a husband and father whose world-wide fame came from the portrayal of women. His fascinating life was the basis for the feature film Farewell My Concubine.
Huang Hsin-yao began studying documentary filmmaking in order to make a difference as an ecological activist. While attending Tainan University of the Arts, Huang made this film as a continuation of a previous documentary about the salt evaporation ponds near Tainan. But instead of filming the ponds once more, Huang turned his camera around to capture the state of the mangrove habitat surrounding the ponds. The result marks an important evolution for Huang as an ecologically-minded documentarian.
West Island lies south of Penghu, under a square kilometre in size. At its peak, around 200 people lived here, but by 1999, only few remained. It's uncertain if their departure was coincidental. Both the island and its inhabitants have faded into obscurity.
This dance film presents Nine Songs as reimagined by Lin Hwai-min and performed by Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan, directed for screen by Chang Chao-Tang. Drawing on ancient ritual poetry, the work evokes prayers to heaven and earth, spirits and ancestors, as well as love and mourning. Masked gods and human figures move together in a ceremonial structure, staging a timeless vision of human experience. Premiered in 1993, Nine Songs became one of Cloud Gate’s most important works. A studio fire in 2008 nearly caused the piece to be lost, but a surviving ceremonial mask remained as a trace of its legacy. This film records the production before the fire, preserving its original form. Moving across layered time and space, the choreography creates a powerful, immersive atmosphere. Through moments of wonder, grief, and ecstasy, the work unfolds toward a state of clarity and quiet transcendence.
A warm and engaging documentary about young boys training for gymnastics competition.
This film is Taiwan’s first protest music documentary, examining Jiao Gong Band 交工樂隊. Jiao Gong Band initially received attention from their efforts opposing the Meinong Dam project. After a brief pause in the Dam issue, Jiao Gong began following farm and farming issues, with their musical style quickly gaining increased popularity. This film discusses the uneasy situation faced by Taiwan’s farm youth. The youth that sets out to the city seeking to develop themselves carry feelings of homesickness from leaving their farm and land; on returning to their hometown after the bubble economy, they continue to push the elder generation to leave the village. Aside from this, because of their difficult social status, farm youth can often only search for Southeast Asian “foreign brides” when seeking marriage. Within the film, new residents (新住民) discuss their feelings and mindset in moving to Taiwan and collaborate with Jiao Gong throughout the album’s recording process.
Chen Da, born in 1905, learned traditional Taitung-style songs as a boy. Working as a cowherd and fisherman, he travelled from Hengchun to Taitung. He began his career as a wandering minstrel at 20. Homage to Chen Da portrays his life and singing in various settings, including his hometown and the well-known musical venue in Taipei, Scarecrow Restaurant.
The sound of billiard balls on a table, a montage series from television shows, steam rising from a bowl of instant noodles, reflections in the window of a public bus, a sun dressed in drab army green, daze caused by intermittent sleep, and the words hidden in a telephone card. The old wait for their coffins, the young wait to leave the island, the recruits wait and count the number of days before discharge, the rocks wait for people to come back, and I wait for the end of the film.
The Giant Panda is a mammal native to central-western and south western China and is a true member of the Ursidae (bear) family. The Panda's closes ursine relative is the spectacled bear of South America. The Giant Panda is among the worlds most adored and protected rare animal and is one of the few in the world whose natural inhabitant status was able to gain UNESCO World Heritage Site designation. The Sichuan Giant Panda Sanctuaries located in the southwest Sichuan province and covering seven natural reserves, were inscribed onto the World Heritage List in 2009. Discover the beauty and wonder of these great panda's and their fight for life.
Aims to convey an impression of shabiness, constant change and nostalgia, symbolising the absurdity, fragility and hopelessness of life.
Director Tang Shiang-chu first read about the Taiwanese veterans twenty years ago in the Ren-Jian Magazine, realizing that there were other people suffering the same fate as his father which a war took them away from their homes; and it wasn't after the cross-strait opened up forty years later that the remaining soldier were giving a chance to return home.