Taiwan will be widely represented at the Busan International Film Festival this year, with award-winning director LAU Kek-huat’s (廖克發) first narrative feature, Boluomi (菠蘿蜜), and CHUNG Mong-hong’s (鍾孟宏) latest drama, A Sun (陽光普照), heading the Taiwan line-up. The 24th Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) has been taking place from Thursday 3rd October to Saturday 12th October.
Boluomi, by Malaysian-born, Taiwan-based filmmaker LAU Kek-huat, has been nominated for the New Currents Award, the festival’s competition section for Asian films. The award will be bestowed to two films and each director will receive 30,000 USD.
▲Director LAU Kek-huat’s first narrative feature, Boluomi
This is not the first time that LAU’s work has been selected for the BIFF. In 2015, his short film Nia's Door (妮雅的門) won the Sonje Award for Best Asian Short Film at the festival. In 2016, his documentary Absent without Leave (不即不離) had its international premiere in the Wide Angle Documentary Competition. He has proved himself to be an auteur who works successfully in both documentary and fiction.
▲Reprise, directed by Singaporean filmmaker Stanley Rui-yang XU
Furthermore, two Taiwanese short films have been selected for the Wide Angle section this year: In This Land We’re Briefly Ghosts (幽魂之境) by LO Chen-wen (羅晨文) ,filmed in Myanmar and based on actual events; Reprise (漣漪) , directed by Singaporean filmmaker Stanley Rui-yang XU (許瑞洋), who is studying for an MFA in Filmmaking (Directing) at Taipei National University of the Arts. The best two short films among the line-up of the section will receive the Sonje Award, with the prize of approximately 10,000 USD for the filmmakers to spend on their next project.
▲In This Land We’re Briefly Ghosts by LO Chen-wen
A Window on Asian Cinema, a major section of the BIFF, will screen five Taiwanese titles, including Nina Wu (灼人秘密), The Gangs, the Oscars, and the Walking Dead (江湖無難事), Wild Sparrow (野雀之詩), Heavy Craving (大餓), and A Sun, which is CHUNG Mong-hong’s fifth feature and has just world premiered in the Contemporary World Cinema section at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival.
Detention (返校), John HSU’s (徐漢強) debut narrative feature will be shown in the Midnight Passion section at the BIFF. Adapted from a survival horror video game of the same name and set in a senior high school during Taiwan's White Terror period in the 1960s, the film depicts two students’ search for a missing teacher while finding the school gradually slipping out of the world they are familiar with.
▲Detention by John HSU
Gavin LIN’s (林孝謙) romantic drama More Than Blue world premiered in BIFF’s Open Cinema section last year and topped the Taiwanese yearly box office in 2018. This year, his short film Erotica (情色小說) will be screened in the Wide Angle section.
BIFF’s Asian Project Market (APM) will hold a series of financing and co-production events from 6th to 8th October. 384 projects have been submitted from 60 countries, among which 29 projects were selected. CHAN Ching-lin’s (詹京霖) project Coo-Coo (一家子兒咕咕叫) is among the selection of the 2019 APM.
In addition, several much anticipated film releases scheduled for the second half of 2019 will be screened in Busan. We Are Champions (下半場) by CHANG Jung-chi (張榮吉) combines themes of brotherhood and father-son relationship with the exciting High School Basketball League (HBL) championship in Taiwan. Dear Loneliness (致親愛的孤獨者) is an anthology that weaves together three stories through a letter written and narrated by the acclaimed Taiwanese writer LUO Yi-jun. Both titles and Detention will have market screenings at the Asian Film Market this year.
Under the supervision of the Bureau of Audiovisual and Music Industry Development, Ministry of Culture, the Taiwan Film Institute (TFI) will set up a Taiwan Cinema stand at Asian Film Market, which will serve international buyers and programmers at stand number E03, BEXCO from 5th through 8th October.
TFI also produces a catalogue, which collects details of Taiwanese film releases and projects in production over the past year, including 35 narrative features, 17 documentaries, 27 short films, 6 restored classics, and 7 film projects. 14 Taiwanese distributors will attend the Asian Film Market this year. In coordination with the Taiwanese films selected for the BIFF and special guests in attendance, TFI will also organise a "Taiwan Night" party on 7th October to attract international industry heavyweights to advance the future development of Taiwanese cinema.
