Film Taiwan announces that the Taiwan Film Festival is coming to the UK for the very first time. The Festival celebrates Taiwan’s long and tempestuous history and diverse cultural heritage through the uncensored lens of independent Taiwanese filmmakers.
The Festival runs from 3 – 14 April, with a programme of films shown at various prestigious locations including the Curzon Soho, DocHouse at Curzon Bloomsbury, the Starr Cinema at Tate Modern and an exciting virtual reality (VR) pop-up cinema at Asia House in central London, in partnership with Art Cinema.
Inaugurated in Iceland in March 2019, this will be a trailblazing festival covering a broad range of topical issues that are both particular to Taiwan and also speak to a global audience – including LGBTQ rights, ethnicity, land rights, environment and politics. As the only Mandarin-speaking country in the world who protects freedom of speech, Taiwan has a powerful voice to tell stories others cannot. Furthermore, over 65% of the film directors included are female and together they have directed 50% of the Festival’s programme, Taiwan-based filmmakers will attend the Festival for post-screening Q&As, the opening party and the closing event.
“Bringing the Taiwan Film Festival to the UK and Iceland was an obvious fit because of the strong roots of storytelling and independent film-making on each of these islands” says Festival curator Aephie Chen.
The Taiwan Film Festival opens with the 1967 classic martial arts western “Dragon Inn”, an influence for many subsequent films of the same genre.
The Taiwan Film Festival is proud to include Tsai Ming-Liang’s selection of fiction feature films and shorts being shown at the Tate Modern’s Starr Cinema, as well as the UK premiere of his VR film, “The Deserted” at a specially-designed VR space at Asia House. Director Tsai will also take part in post-screning Q&A’s, as well as lead a Film-making Masterclass.
Other highlights of the Festival include the screening of the commercially acclaimed horror sequel, “The Tag-Along” and “The Tag-Along 2” which are each followed by Q&A’s with the film’s screenwriter Chien Shih-keng, and films from eight female directors including Heather Tsui, Singing Chen, Huang Hui-chen, Hsin Yin Sung, Ado Kaliting Pacidal, Rina B. Tsou, Lin Han, and Shake. In addition, Chen Singing & Huang Hui-chen will also participate in Q&As after their film screenings. There will also be a screening of “Father”, a story filmed over a decade about the traditional art of puppetry. Director Yang Li-Chou will attend a post-screening Q&A.
The Taiwan Film Festival is a collaborative effort between FilmTaiwan and the Cultural Division of the Taipei Representative Office in the UK.
THE FULL PROGRAMME:
Taiwan Film Festival at Curzon
Dragon Inn (1967) by King HU
The Tag-Along (2015) by Cheng Wei-Hao
The Tag-Along 2 (2017) by Cheng Wei-Hao
Father (2017) by Yang Li-Chou
Long Time No Sea (2018) by Heather Tsui
God Man Dog (2017) by Chen Singing
The Walker (2014) by Chen Singing
Small Talk (2016) by Huang Hui-Chen
On The Happiness Road (2017) by Sung Hsin-Yin
VR cinematic experience
Tsai Ming-Liang: The Deserted
360 Cinematic video at a specially-designed VR pop-up cinema
Tsai Ming-Liang at Tate Modern
Your Face + Light UK Premiere + Q&A
The Skywalk is Gone + No No Sleep + Autumn Days UK Premiere
Goodbye, Dragon Inn
Masterclass with Tsai Ming-Liang
Afternoon UK Premiere
For more info about the event, the venues and the tickets, please visit to the Official Website