Discoveries from Taiwan World Cinema

Here, we feel the joy of saving lives and the sorrow of omnipresent death. Can we truly coexist with wildlife?

What would it be if anything had bloomed from where everything collapsed? Amid the pouring out of irreducible beings, some endure time and space that are only shattered and torn apart.

With a container as a motif and a metaphor for a safe place, the story surrounds the protagonist’s self-searching and healing journey, exploring the relationship between emotion and space. The film attempts to construct psychological self-portraits and a poetic narrative through experimentation in 2D animation, stop-motion, and sound. It reflects sensibility, fragility, and fragmentation of identity by applying pottery and clay.

A visually stunning paean to spiritual pilgrimage that creates a world of intense reverence, distinctly Asian in its imagery. Set to Georgian folksongs with 3½ tons of shimmering golden grains of rice.

Fedati lives in a small room nearby Taichung train station, in which she makes Indonesian food and clay craft; it is also the favorite place of her migrant sisters in the area. They share about work as a domestic helper and a factory worker; they talk about being homesick and how much they miss their families. The journey of Fedati in Taiwan has been recorded in this 16 square meters room. She started as a domestic helper, and later became a clay artist, a migrant culture activist, and an owner of a take-away Indonesian food business. To be even better, she joined a master program in a university in Taiwan. In her room, we can have a peek into the possibility and vibrancy of migrant lives in Taiwan.

Breastmilk comes quietly into the world at the time of birth to raise newborns. Sometimes they go even further and nourish more little lives through milk banks.

We stepped on Orchid Island (Lanyu) because of an ancient chant, which is the earliest sound of the Tao people recorded by Japanese scholar Kitasato Takeshi in the 1920s. Our filming journey, a 3-hour boat ride from the southeast coast of Taiwan, became a heartfelt exploration of the island's intersections between old and new, tradition and modernity.

Yuxin chats with friends at a café about the recent days of being single again, recalling the conclusion of her relationship with Yitian . The two had a prolonged standoff, wanting to avoid any regrets. To ensure closure, they composed a breakup checklist and tackled each item before parting ways. Eventually, they drove to the seaside one night, gazing at the vast, dark ocean. As they counted down their final moments together, the sunrise slowly emerged, just like the gradual end of their relationship.

Dao-Shun Zhang began to study magic with his magician father, Qing-Zhou Zhang, at the age of 3. He is a child with moderate to severe hearing impairment. His father led him into the world of magic. At the age of 15, he has participated in magic competitions all over the world, but Dao-Shun said that he has lost his passion for magic. He does not want to continue to make a living as a magician in the future, but his magician father expects him to inherit the family business. Now Dao-Shun is faced with the career choice of the junior high school entrance examination. How should Daoshun face his future?

The story takes place in a small Chinese village located in northern Myanmar, where it was once the land of opium. A-Biao, a struggling young man, who has been away from Myanmar for more than a decade, gets tricked by his father into going back home and witnesses the political reform in Myanmar.

The Breast Talk is a graduation film made by three college students from the Department of Radio and Television at the NCCU. The film concerns the topics of female breasts in relation to sexuality and gender.Through experience sharing, , it tells the high hopes that women can find their own way to be themselves comfortably.

Through juxtaposing languages with words, images, and sounds, A Play in Water depicts the conflicts between the internal world and external culture in prose poetry form. It can be considered as a personal diary written by a 16mm Bolex camera in memory of the beautiful life in Chicago.

Around 1992, when Taiwan's documentaries had not yet sprouted, Chen Yingzhen produced a documentary about the 228 Incident, titled "Testimony February 28th", and compiled the testimonies into a book by Yeh Yun-wan.

No one should have to ask what a drag king is. In Taipei, a unique community of drag kings has emerged and has been growing since 2019. Liting ‘LT” Tan is a drag king from Singapore who came to Taiwan to be in an environment that has allowed them to live authentically. Over the past few years, they have become a grounding force in the community, pushing for a space where kings can thrive. After a challenging marriage, Taile sought out a queer community to be a part of, and that is how they came to meet LT. Rose is a captivating performer whose persona sits successfully as a caricature of masculine tropes. Drag has allowed these individuals to push boundaries in ways they never thought possible. Follow a journey of freedom, empowerment, and self-discovery through these three.

There was creepy crying from the quarantine hotel, which scared all the guests. A little boy wanted to find out what’s going on. However, his mother stopped him and scared him with ghost stories. Everyone thought that it was ghosts. It was fear that kept people away from the truth.

There are many "street barber stalls" under Hutoushan. Most of these stalls serve senior citizens and working people, and have become a traditional part of ordinary people's lives. The stall holder and the customer are separated by mesh nets, while friendships and a feeling of warmth and humanity flow between them.

Life flourishes under the nourishment of sunlight, air, and water, surrounded by blue skies, white clouds, solid and rich earth, and oceans. The 21st century is enjoying the most stable and secure era in human history, but is this what we deserve? Do we often ignore the most basic questions?

Conceived by new media artist and choreographer Su Wen-Chi, this film is an experimental project on how to imagine and perceive the abstract gravity in astronomy with dance, sound and light.

The little boy lost his beloved sister in an accident. One nigh, the little boy vaguely heard his sister's sound, and then entered an unusual fantasy world to bid farewell to the family he loved...

An emotionless workaholic opens her heart when she can hear the thoughts of a dog, that her ex-boyfriend left behind.

This documentary explores the reason why people in Chiayi have an everlasting passion for music—is it the vibe of the city, or is it mere illusion? In this film, Chiayi-native musicians and musicians who have migrated to Chiayi were both actively engaged in a reality show in which they tried to fulfill their calling as musicians. Even faced with a dilemma, they have not hesitated for a second—music, for them, is the best choice in life.

A building with fifty years of history was once a popular spot in the memory of the locals, but now it is considered to be the cancer of the city because of its shabby exterior and the interior that looks like a ruin. When it was going to be rebuilt due to urban renewal, "Escape Plan," a group of young graffiti artists, sneaked in this twelve-story ruined building. For them, it is a rarely seen wonderful space to create art. They are now planning to challenge themselves to create something they have never thought of.

Ling began to realize the differences between body and genders. Bound by constraints, she made a determined effort to move forward after meeting the pony.

Elephant Gym has been deeply involved in the indie music for ten years. Making ideals based on love and peace. Through Rock Music to communicate with the world, and taking their own steps on the road of creating music.

Since 2020, Covid-19 has spread all over the world, and daily life has changed completely. No one knows what the future holds, and through every scene in this film, we hope to comfort each other and make us cherish what we have right now.

The woman died and became a skeleton. The man caught her by fishing. He was so scared that he ran away, but the hook was hooking each other, no one could get rid of anyone. This film is adapted from an Inuit fable. It is a metaphor of breakthrough the difficulty of love. True love begins when you are willing to face the skeleton.

"It’s spring of senior year. This wasn't the first time Hoki attacked a wild bird. A school vote is held to decide its fate. Yi, Jen, and Hsaun-ting are seeking answers through each other. "

In this futuristic world of 204X, everyone has the chance to freely choose their gender when they come of age. Yi An, a young person on the edge of seventeen, likes and prefers girly and feminine aesthetics. He feels that he isn't masculine enough, but he doesn't feel like a woman either. Yi An is in love with his classmate Zhou Yang Kai, but she expects him to become a girl. Yi An questions whether his attraction to Zhou Yang Kai is based on a gender preference or a connection of souls.

Step into the world of an aged farmer engaged in a relentless battle against the Malaysian government to protect his cherished durian orchard. This heartfelt tale explores the courage and resilience of a man determined to preserve what is rightfully his.

OUR NON-UNDERSTANDING OF EVERYTHING is a daily practice, where we observe and speculate how our personal tech devices and their building parts exist in a possible future, shared between the architecture of circuitry, political thought and the wild and programmed parts of our natural environments.

To the dearest all who always gets messed up in life, no matter by your own self or by others. Whisper to your heart, even at the most desperate moment, GANBATE (Keep going on)!

The tinkling sound of the wind chimes, the soothing harmonica, and the sudden thundershower in the afternoon.These were what Liu A’s summer made out of. The Kua-á-hì stage at the temple yard, the unknown photographer, the excitement of debut, and the bittersweet harmonica. These were what Sing A’s summer made out of. The scattered hair and dance moves, the drifting raft by the lake, and the boisterous feast of the full moon. These were what Bi Hong’s summer made out of.