Discoveries from Taiwan World Cinema

A butterfly yearns for distance, a caterpillar seeks comfort. Their park life begins to change as a strange structure expands.

The anonymity on the Internet allows LGBTQIA people to interact without exposing their identities. It can be seen as a better 'rainbow utopia' than the real world. Three gay guys in this film also met each other in this way. In 2009, a battle between gay and straight on an online forum began and caused chaos.

Taiwanese martial arts film.

Discuss the rarely-noticed headless corpses and their emotions as victims of history under the issue of justice in the transformation of Aboriginal history, and use headless ghosts as objects of historical compilation to reflect on the over-ethicalization of recent historical writing and ghost discussions. Those on the margins of history, and the imagination of ethnic groups endowed with excessive integrity.

The documentary "Wounds – Veterans' Stories" primarily focuses on the veterans who came to Taiwan in 1949 with the memories and traumas of the civil war. The film is conducted along with two story lines: One is conveyed through the personal accounts of the veterans in Taiwan telling their memorable stories of migrating to Taiwan, while the other one follows the story of the Borough Chief of Xianghe Lane in Kaohsiung who escorts the ashes of deceased veterans back home. Through the record of the veterans' stories, the impacts of war on individuals and society as a whole is revealed.

Through dance, image and sound, the work explores how the pandemic has affected our perception of safety, identity and senses.

Taiwanese children between 4 and 8 years old talk about their views on surrendering to China.

At the peak of his career as a choreographer, Bulareyaung felt lost. He returned to Taitung to work with young indigenous performers. These mostly untrained dancers are fulfilling their dreams in their homeland, and their free-spirited personalities remind him of his youth. Surrounded by dancers who feel like family, Bulareyaung gradually discovers that returning to his indigenous community through dance rekindles the child within him.

Over the ten years, Ino has been passing down the Atayal culture with real actions, imparting all he learnt from the forest to children in Cinsbu. The audiences can feel his natural philosophy of life in his words and deeds. He makes people realize that there exists genuine, pure and beautiful relationship between human and myriad elements of nature.

Yujin, who comes from a traditional family, has an intense trauma related to heavy rain. As an adult, he has returned home to take care of his family, and the shadow has resurfaced. By depicting his inner journey of evasion when facing pain, the story brings out the complex emotions in family relationships, along with that indescribable love.

Adopted by a Dutch family, a young woman has struggled not to feel like a stranger in a country so far from her birthplace, Taipei, and has always longed for a place to feel truly at home. With this desire, she embarks to Taipei on a journey of self-discovery.

Lumi, formerly homeless due to family issues and business failures, spends a decade in odd jobs, park benches, and internet cafes. Joining a social enterprise, he gains skills, saves money, and rents a place, but his past still haunts him.

The desire for laughter cannot break free from reality, and the imagination of home cannot be realized. Go out the door and run around to challenge; a small stream in the backyard, tolerant and self-healing. A female high school student wants to change her family's current situation through her own efforts, but an unexpected event happens on the way to finding a job. How should she face the next phase of her life?

“Road to Human Rights” revisits Taiwan’s authoritarian past through the stories of four political prisoners during the nation’s White Terror era. The documentary resonates with viewers across generations, especially younger activists, who play a crucial role in effecting change in Taiwan’s politics and society.

A lonely photographer, who developed the same photo of his ex-lover every day.

A feature film directed by Chi-Ming Lei

A Taiwanese student film paying tribute to John Lennon's sudden death won the outstanding 8mm documentary award at the 1982 Golden Harvest Awards.

Aims to convey an impression of shabiness, constant change and nostalgia, symbolising the absurdity, fragility and hopelessness of life.

A story about a money machine, a poor man, and cat food.

According to a 1969 newspaper report, a Taiwanese-language film based on the Western film "Tears of Autumn Frost" was decided to be titled "Where is Mother". The movie was directed by Chung Yi-woo and co-starred Jin Mei, Tian Ming, Zheng Xiaofen, Shi Ying, Ye Qing, Zhuang Li and Wu Fei Song.

The Lin family was a poor family with a kind father and filial son. Life was originally harmonious, but the good times were not always so good. Ever since Grandma learned from her aunt that her second brother, Rensheng, had passed away on the 17th of last month, she fell down and fell into a coma, and the Lin family fell into a predicament because of Grandma's huge operation expenses. Ruolan, the eldest sister who is also a good student, gives up her chance to go to university because she can't bear to let her father work too hard and quits school to sing at a concert hall. The whole school helped out, and the story of the filial son of the Lin family aroused the sympathy of the public.

When taking the train home, I always feel that some parts of myself cannot keep up with the moving carriage, and I feel that the order of my mind is also disrupted. The trivial matters that happened during this period began to appear in my mind, and the boundary between reality and memory began to blur…

This film is dedicated to the house that has anchored a home for my family for over 30 years: Chang Chun, my grandmother’s house. Just like the fate of several old buildings in Taipei, she will be demolished by the end of this year.

All and Nothing explores the intricate life of late conceptual artist Li Yuan-chia, tracing his journey from WWII-era China to Taiwan, 1950s Milan, Bologna, and Swinging Sixties London, culminating in his 1971 establishment of the L.Y.C. Museum & Gallery in rural Cumbria. The film captures his essence as a journeyman and artist.

Nominee of the 15th Golden Horse Awards

Naboisho, which means “coming together” in the Maasai’s Maa language, is a community response to the challenges of the privatization of group ranches in the Greater Mara Region. Strain was put on the soil, endemic vegetation, and the wildlife because of intensive herding and various tourism activities such as camping and off-road vehicle activity. I use a field diary to record and track the daily tracks of wild animals and their survival status. In this way, I re-learn about the land, the animals, and the ecology. This film is dedicated to all those who work, build, and protect the conservation areas, and all the creatures that run on the land.

A healing poem about the companionship of all things in a family garden. A mother gathers crops and cooks with her son in their daily life. The son, while imitating his mother's cooking in the kitchen, chants folk poems with a sense of regret and longing for the distant.

This is a story about individuals from small, geographically marginal communities who still maintain a connection with nature, illustrating how they honor their ancestral hunting culture by reinventing and reinterpreting it.

A land acquisition has disturbed the peace of Shezidao for years. With the new mayor taking office at the end of 2022, the residents are once again confronted with the uncertainty brought by development. Behind the struggles, what is life like on this "trapped island"?

Multiple universes are like sausages, framing a world-saving mission across timelines. The tale weaves two storylines, delving into time, death, and interwoven worlds. Can everything be preserved in time's grasp?

"We passed an empty field, in which a person was standing motionless, head down, and soaking wet in the pouring rain. The rain and darkness made it impossible to tell if the person was male or female, no less determine why he or she was standing there, but the ambiguous gender and loneliness of this image still drift through my mind from time to time."

This film captures some changing moments that took place in Hong Kong between 2018 and 2021. The changes in the landscape of our city are also a portrayal of the author's inner heart - cold rain, hot fire, and continuous loneliness.