When the Taiwanese animated short A Fish with a Smile won the Special Prize of the Deutsches Kinderhilfswerk in the Kinderfilmfest section of 2006’s 56th annual Berlin Film Festival, Government Information Office (GIO) Minister Cheng Wen-tsang took time out of his busy schedule for a March 2 press conference at Taipei Spot. There, he not only celebrated the animated short’s success, but also repeatedly referred to the film as an international milestone for Taiwanese animation. Minister Cheng noted that in recent years Taiwan’s cultural and creative industries have experienced vigorous development, and that the many major international prizes they have received show that Taiwan is indeed the fertile ground for these industries. Moreover, the growing international renown of these prize-winning works is encouraging people from around the world to explore our cultural and creative industries. The GIO has been providing assistance to Taiwan’s filmmakers for many years through mechanisms such as venture capital funding, the Development Fund, support for domestic and international marketing, and the training of skilled professionals. All of these assistance mechanisms--which cover everything from funding projects to the distribution of completed films--have been put into place with the objective of providing local filmmakers with an environment that is in all ways conducive to making movies. A Fish with a Smile is a 10-minute short about a middle-aged man who meets a fish that smiles at him. He wants to possess her and takes her home with him, but finds himself saddened by the sight of the fish in the tank. Once he possesses the fish, he can no longer deny the desire for freedom that he feels deep within himself. When he returns the fish to the ocean, he discovers that what he has freed is actually a long-lost part of himself. The Berlin Film Festival’s Kinderfilmfest/14plus section screens films made for children and teenagers. It has three juries, including the Children’s Jury, which decides the Best Feature Film and Best Short Film awards; the Youth Jury, which awards the Crystal Bear for the Best Feature Film in the 14plus competition; and the International Jury, which awards the Deutsches Kinderhilfswerk prizes. A Fish with a Smile won the International Jury’s Deutsches Kinderhilfswerk Special Prize, which goes to the best short film and carries a prize of 2,500 euros. The GIO awarded the film an additional prize of NT$250,000 in recognition of its achievement at the Berlin festival and to encourage other local filmmakers. In the wake of the short’s success in Berlin, it has been selected for several other international film festivals, including the Montreal World Film Festival, the Syracuse International Film and Video Festival, and a Tokyo Children’s Film Festival. A Fish with a Smile has carried the dreams of many with it around the world. In so doing, we believe that it marks the beginning of a new era in Taiwanese animation.
