Discoveries from Taiwan World Cinema

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.

On the rooftop, a little boy, Zai-Zai, finds his cousin, Hsio-Fei, who is avoiding a family funeral ceremony. He notices that Hsio-Fei has a new cellphone and wonders how he got it. He accidentally uncovers an unspeakable secret hidden deep inside Hsio-Fei’s heart.

A short experimental documentary directed by Chang Chao-Tang (張照堂) during his tenure at the China Television Company (中國電視公司) for the program News Highlights (新聞集錦). Using an abstract visual approach, Chang captures the printmaker Liao Hsiu-Ping (廖修平) in his thirties, at the height of his creative vigor. The film is entirely without narration and is accompanied by composer Chou Wen-Chung’s (周文中) modernist piece "Cursive" (草書).

A Hong Kong girl went to Kaohsiung in agony to search for her friend who was supposedly kidnapped.

For over 70 years, Kai has lived in a military dependents’ house frequented by monkeys. He has spent years maintaining the almost 90-year-old house. In facing monkeys’ intrusions, typhoons and the unpredictable nature of life, can he weather the trials of nature and time?

This work started as a personal project. The artist initially intended to create a one-man home video only for himself, hoping to gather snippets from his life abroad to represent them as vital parts of his life and temporary definitions, forming a time capsule created to commemorate his graduation. A few months later, the artist restarted this unfinished project and changed his intention during editing. By remaking this essay film using several (pseudo-) video diaries and two different mediums—digital recording and digitized Super 8mm footage, the artist translates private, intimate whisperings into his reflections about memory, viewing, film, and the process of image (re-) production.

The Master of the No Clan School swears revenge after he is crippled illegally in a tournament by a rep from the Iron Fist School run by the Triads. His trained children enter the tournament years later to bring the Iron Fist School to justice.

Originally written by HUANG Hua-cheng in 1966, the script centres on the dialogue between a couple sitting in the audience of a play. 51 years later, original actors CHUANG Ling and LIU Ying-shang are invited back to the theatre to recreate the groundbreaking original.

A VR experience that illuminates the surveillance crisis with music from legendary electronic musician Jean-Michel Jarre and visuals from award-winning VR director Hsin-Chien Huang.

Chu Chen, the 27-year-old lead singer of the indie band "The Land Reborn", is always performing and practicing. He doesn't want to waste any moment of his life since the misfortune inherited from his family is lurking in his restless blood.

Spy Red Rose

The film explores the leadership system in lives of chiefs such as Rangalu who was sworn in as the Head of Santiman District, Taiwan, which consists of 10 villages with the population of 70,000, most of whom are indigenous Paiwan. The Paiwan people live in the mountain area of southern Taiwan. Their rich oral traditions and cultural traits are revealed in this unique film. The two director, Daw-ming Lee and Sakuliu Pavaavalung, exchange their views on political and economic issues.

There are more than 320 thousand migrant workers legally hired in Taiwan, among them more than half are from Thailand. To these migrant workers, working abroad in Taiwan is a risky gamble. If they win, they can pay back large amount of brokerage fee and earn some money to support their families. The three Thai workers from northeastern Thailand in this film, however, weren't so lucky. The electronic factory that they'd been working was suddenly closed down. The owner of the factory simply said that he could not afford to pay the salaries of the 100 domestic workers and 100 migrant workers. The Thai workers were eventually deported back to Thailand after fighting futilely for their rights with other migrant and domestic workers. Their dreams of earning money were totally shattered. Some of them were deeply in debt. Would they give up their hopes in earning money from working abroad because of their bad experiences in Taiwan?

Kuang, a student, was flagged by the school’s security system for posting unsafe phrases on the Internet, and as a penalty, his face was covered by mosaic. Most of his friends made fun of it, but reasonably refused to support his right, except his girlfriend.

Based on actual events, this human tragedy follows a 12-year-old child soldier, Su Su Myat, and her mute brother, Tin Min, who are imprisoned after deserting their first combat mission. Punished with no food or water, Su Su Myat is forced to choose between killing her seriously ill brother for her own survival, or risk dying with him.

"A Love Letter to Oneself" describes six young men and women who play roles that are 80 years apart from the Japanese rule and the Republic of China era, concatenating the different identities of the 1930s and 2010s, comparing the two The generational differences in occupations, lifestyles, concepts, and political environment profile the influence of the development of Taipei’s West District on Taiwan’s history.

16 years ago, Chen Huo-sheng was a captain and the central figure in a drug trafficking case. He believed the justice system would eventually clear his name, not knowing that the clouds of injustice were harder to escape than the pirates at sea. While a wrongful conviction may seem complex, a closer look reveals its stark clarity.

In 2017, four bands from the Chinese mainland toured in Taiwan. It marks a historic moment in the cross-strait subcultural communication. The tour is the biggest underground rock event made by rock bands from the Chinese mainland in Taiwan. With the GT Bitches's tour as the main plot, the film is an interview of 10 punk bands, gig organizers,and music fans from the Chinese mainland and Taiwan. What is the punk cultural difference across the strait? The interview in the film might provide a partial answer…

Wei and Chen grew up together. They are each other’s closest companion—at least in Wei’s mind. On a quiet winter break afternoon, Chen brings up the broken fridge in Wei’s room— filled with forgotten objects, and somehow shared between them.

Chishang Township is known for its superior rice quality, golden rice waves, and unique cultural ambiance. From its initial struggles to the historic achievement of cultivating the highest-priced rice, the film traces the town's rich history and profound humanistic depth.

The phone rings, breaking the silence of the arena of desire where no one picks up. While dreaming, a man battles his lust until he masturbates. His ego divides into two and his desire is finally given free flow.

Once, Chen Yi, a gay man who was about to graduate from college, and Zhie Ze maintained a detached sexual partnership. But now, Chen Yi, who has no job and no purpose in life, is playing an ambiguous game of friendship with Zhi Ze, trying to get out of the shadow of his previous relationship and find his way.

A journey in the forest near Taipei without a certain destination, a nomadic speculation on relationships and processes that occur among species and dimensions beyond the human.

A young woman tries to bind her lover to herself forever.

Jiang Jun Zhi and Fang Min En is a married couple, but both are gay, and each has his or her own lover. This morning, the guy received a call from his father informing them that he will be dropping by the new flat soon. Caught completely off guard, Jiang Jun Zhi and Fang Min En panicked, hurriedly sent both their lovers away, and started tidying up the room. They could not find their wedding ring, and got into a heated argument. Unexpectedly, the parents showed up at the door.

How do those within the memories show themselves to us?

In 2017, in order to deal with the high unemployment rate, the government implements the "Unemployment Clearance Plan."

After her friend’s suicide, Toothbag buries her grief beneath anger and denial. Haunted by memories she can’t stop replaying, she struggles to accept the loss. But in a vivid dream, a final conversation with her friend shifts something in her. Waking up, she begins the painful journey of letting go, learning to honor her friend’s choice and confront her own sorrow.

Huang dropped out of school and started working at a pet grooming salon. When the New Year rolled around, she wants to advance her salary to give her parents red envelopes, but the manager, Tai Tai, shuts her down. Fed up with her tough manager and demanding customers, Huang reaches her limit and leads to chaos.

The filmmaker took a trip to Nepal and ended up embarking on a journey of self-discovery through a relationship. In a self-reflexive tone, the film ponders upon the transformation of her position within the relationship. As she resituated herself in geographical terms, she was also on a spiritual quest to her innermost self through destruction and reconstruction.

A letter from the grassland, recounting a sweet dream that began with an unexpected encounter and gradually turned into an irrevocable nightmare...

The story of frivolous and lecherous emperor Qianlong's search for a morally upstanding person is told in a fashion that smartly fuses the puppet proscenium with the conventions of cinematic language. While everything is obviously arranged on a stage, the camera moves freely around in this environment, getting close to the puppets or setting them up in deep focus shots. The result is deeply enchanting, with the puppets soon feeling like living creatures of a very special kind, whose presence and company one cheerfully enjoys.

Under the shadow of the global pandemic, two boys Wen-He and Jun-Yo meet and become good friends. However, a bribery scandal in a small village throws a gloom over their friendship and rival families. Wen-He and Jun-Yo have been kept apart by each of their families ever since. A pandemic in our generation isolates not only individuals but joint communities.

This documentary film follows the journey of former student activist and current political staffer Chen Ting-hao after his decision to escape the cynical politicism of Taipei City to the political backwater of Matsu, an island group administered by Taiwan less than a dozen kilometers off the coast of China. The narrative follows Ting-hao as he reflects on how his political idealism fits in with everyday political reality and ponders Taiwan’s complex political landscape, Taiwan’s relations with a meddlesome yet surprisingly indifferent China, and the perspectives of Matsu residents on Taiwan-China affairs.

The story unfolds in "the realm of bears" that is the heart of the Yushan National Park. It is a place brimming with wildlife ecosystems and aboriginal culture. Fascinated by the area, one female ecologist started her journey searching for bears in 1998 while subsequently developing a close companionship with a Bunun hunter in the midst of this wilderness. Together with copious research, the secret of the Taiwan Black Bear is thus revealed.

A pregnant woman’s husband dies at sea. She is desperate to leave the fishing village, but her grown son takes after his father.

On a romantic night, she goes on a date with “him.” Through the taste of the delicious meal and the in-depth conversation with him, she recalls the lovely memories from the past.

Tut is a 52-year-old fisherman living in Kampot. In spite of the language barrier, he recounts for the first time and without any words his past during the Khmer Rouge regime, demonstrating the torture he experienced in prison the year he turned fifteen.