Nina Wu (灼人祕密), the latest film by Burmese-Taiwanese director Midi Z (趙德胤) has been selected for competition in the Un Certain Regard section of the 72nd Cannes Film Festival, which will be held from 14th to 25th May. And three VR installations created by Laurie ANDERSON and HUANG Hsin-chien (黃心健), Aloft (高空), Chalkroom (沙中房間) and To the Moon (登月) will be presented all together for the first time at the 51st Directors' Fortnight.
▲Nina Wu directed by Midi Z
Nina Wu, the fifth narrative feature of Midi Z, shot in Taiwan and starring WU Ke-xi (吳可熙), Vivian SUNG (宋芸樺) and Kimi HSIA (夏于喬), has been shortlisted in the Un Certain Regard category of the Cannes Film Festival. It has been 11 years since a Taiwanese film was nominated for this category. Inspired by the Harvey Weinstein scandal and the #MeToo movements in Korea and Japan, the screenplay was written by WU Ke-xi, who is also the lead actress in the film. The film will make its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival on 20th May at Théâtre Claude Debussy.
In addition to the cast, Midi Z has the best line-up for his film Nina Wu. The international crew includes LIM Giong (林強), a Cannes award-winning composer, CHOU Chen (周震), a regular sound designer of Midi Z, and Matthieu LACLAU, an awardee of Best Film Editing at the Golden Horse Film Festival.
The Taiwanese new media artist HUANG Hsin-chien and the American avant-garde artist Laurie ANDERSON have been collaborating on various digital art projects since 1995. During the 15-minute VR experience of their latest work, To the Moon, the viewer is shot out from earth, walks on the surface of the moon, glides through space debris, flies through DNA skeletons and is lifted up the side and then tossed off of a lunar mountain. Their other two virtual reality works, Chalkroom, which won the Best VR Experience Award at Venice Film Festival in 2017, and Aloft have also been invited to this year’s Cannes showcase.
▲Laurie ANDERSON & HUANG Hsin-chien VR exhibition at the 51st Directors' Fortnight
Some other brilliant titles will also be presented at this year’s Cannes Marché du Film. A co-production between Taiwan and Japan, Paradise Next (亡命之途) was shot in Taipei and Hualien and stars Satoshi TSUMABUKI (妻夫木聰), Etsushi TOYOKAWA (豐川悅司) and Nikki Hsin-ying HSIEH (謝欣穎). The Oscar-winning Japanese composer Ryuichi SAKAMOTO (坂本龍一) has also composed the theme song for the film. What’s more, the talented new director Leo WANG (王鼎霖) will unveil his debut The 9th Precinct (第九分局), starring Roy CHIU (邱澤), PENG Chia-chia (澎恰恰) and Jenny WEN (溫貞菱) and co-produced by YEH Ju-feng (葉如芬), WANG Jun (王鈞) and Wolf CHEN (陳鴻元).
▲Paradise Next directed by Yoshihiro HANNO
The Cannes Marché du Film recently launched Cannes XR, a programme fully dedicated to immersive technologies and entertainment. HUANG Hsin-chien’s latest VR work, The Missing Body Episode 1 (失身記-上集), will also be shown at Kaleidoscope’s Development Showcase, an official partner of Cannes XR. Based on the history of Taiwan and the director’s childhood memories, the film depicts the impact on humanity of martial law, colonial culture as well as the digital era in a story beyond reality.
▲Mechanical Souls directed by Gaëlle MOURRE
In recent years Taiwanese VR films continue to gain international recognition at film festivals worldwide. Directed by Gaëlle MOURRE, Mechanical Souls is a co-production between Taiwan and France selected for the Virtual Cinema section of the SXSW Film Festival. A Song within Us is a 360-degree immersive experience with traditional aboriginal music and sound interaction, written and directed by Fangas Nayaw, a Taiwanese aboriginal theatre director and choreographer of Amis descent. And, last but not least, Your Spiritual Temple Sucks, an original virtual reality film from Taiwan was shown at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival. All of the above-mentioned titles will have screenings at the Marché du Film this year.
Under
the supervision of the Bureau of Audiovisual and Music Industry Development of
the Ministry of Culture, the Taiwan Film Institute (TFI) will set up a Taiwan
Cinema stand at Marché du Film, which will serve international buyers and
programmers at stand number 25.01, Palais -1 from 14th through 23rd May. TFI
also produces a catalogue, which collects details of Taiwanese film releases
and projects in production over the past year, including 37 narrative features,
21 documentaries, 32 short films, 6 restored classics, and 15 film projects. In
coordination with the Taiwanese films selected for the Cannes Film Festival and
special guests in attendance, TFI will also organise a "Taiwan Night"
party on 17th May to attract international industry heavyweights to advance the
future development of Taiwanese cinema.
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