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25 Films you cannot miss at the Taipei Film Festival 2016
We present a list of 25 films worth watching at the Taipei Film Festival that
will take place from June 30th – July 16th (Taiwan).
2 Idiots by Huang Ming-Zheng – Taiwan | 2016 – 98 min.
Accidently hired by a private investigation firm, two young men are sent on a
mission of collecting debt. When they finally get a 10-million-dollar check
from the director of an orphanage, they find that they don’t feel happy at
all. A battle between their real personalities and the harsh reality begins…
Section: Taipei Film Awards – Narrative Features
After the Storm by Koreeda Hirokazu – Japan | 2016 – 117 min.
Dwelling on his past glory as a prize-winning author, Ryota wastes his money
on gambling and can barely pay child support. Renewing contact with his
initially distrusting family, Ryota struggles to take back control of his
existence and to find a lasting place in the life of his young son until a
stormy summer night offers them a chance to truly bond again.
Section: Visions
Alone by Park Hong-Min – South Korea | 2015 – 90 min.
While Soo-min is filming a documentary, he captures a masked man murdering a
woman. He tries to run away but gets caught and killed by the masked man in
the alley. Soo-min wakes up and believes he has just had a nightmare but gets
killed again. Every time he tries to escape, he is brought back to the same
alley…
Section: International New Talent Competition
Don’t look at me that way by Uisenma Borchu – Germany, Mongolia | 2015 –
88 min.
Single mother Iva lives with her 5-year-old daughter, Sophia, and is
struggling to make ends meet. One day they meet their new neighbour, the
mysterious Hedi, who does what she likes and is not afraid of how the others
see her. Slowly, Hedi works her way into Iva’s life, and the two women start
a relationship.
Section: International New Talent Competition
Crosscurrent by Yang Chao – China | 2016 – 116 min.
Gao Chun, a captain of a cargo ship sailing up the Yangtze River, disembarks
at every port in search of love. However, he gradually realizes that the
women he meets at different ports appear to be the same person. Bewildered,
Gao Chun soon finds out where she appears trace back to a collection of
poems. Obsessed with her, Gao Chun tries to unveil the mysteries.
Section: Visions
Fukushima, mon Amour by Doris Dörrie – Germany | 2016 – 102 min.
Marie, a young German woman, goes to Fukushima. She hopes to bring joy to the
2011 nuclear disaster survivors but finds herself unsuitable for the job. But
instead of leaving, Marie decides to stay with Satomi, the last geisha of
Fukushima. Two women who couldn‘t be more different have to learn to
liberate themselves from guilt and the burden of memory.
Section: Visions
Guilty by Meghna Gulzar – India | 2015 – 133 min.
Guilty is a fictional dramatization of the events revolving around the murder
of Aarushi Talwar, which happened in the city near Delhi in 2008. The
incident still resonates in the minds of the public, as there is no sense of
closure in the case in spite of a guilty verdict – the parents of the
murdered girl have been sentenced to life for killing her.
Section: Echoes
Ken and Kazu by Shoji Hiroshi – Japan | 2015 – 98 min.
Partners in crime Ken and Kazu use an auto repair shop to sell drugs and make
money. When Ken’s girlfriend, Saki, gets pregnant, he does his best to go
straight. But Kazu makes a dangerous move, and Ken comes to draw attention
from a Yakuza boss. Obsession, connection and future are portrayed in the
underworld drug dealings.
Section: Journeys
Lokah Laqi! (Hang in there, kids!) by Laha Mebow – Taiwan | 2016 – 90 min.
Watan, Chen Hao and Lin Shan are three Taiwanese aboriginal boys, who grew up
and live in a mountain village. Miss Lawa, a physically challenged teacher,
runs an afterschool class for the kids in the tribe. She has the most
beautiful voice but has stopped singing until one day Watan discovers the old
demo tape Lawa recorded years ago…
Section: International New Talent Competition
Not Burma Anymore by Wang Z.J. – Myanmar | 2016 – 70 min.
The story takes place in a small Chinese village located in northern Myanmar,
where it was once the land of opium. A-Biao, a struggling young man, who has
been away from Myanmar for more than a decade, gets tricked by his father
into going back home and witnesses the political reform in Myanmar.
Section: International New Talent Competition
Oyster Factory by Soda Kazuhiro – Japan, USA | 2015 – 145 min.
In the Japanese town of Ushimado, the shortage of labour is a serious
problem. Traditionally, oyster shucking has been a job for local men and
women, but for a few years now, some of the factories have had to use
foreigners in order to keep functioning. Hirano oyster factory has never
employed any outsiders but finally decides to bring in two workers from
China. Will all the employees get along?
Section: Echoes
Paradise by Sina Ataeian Dena – Iran | 2015 – 100 min.
25-year-old Hanieh has to commute long hours to get to the suburbs where she
works as a teacher at a girls’ primary school. She tries to get transferred
to a school inside Tehran but this is a weary process. Increasingly exhausted
by her paralysing everyday life, Hanieh struggles to find a way out of her
condition but is unwittingly ignorant of the role she plays in this circle…
Section: International New Talent Competition
Sand Storm by Elite Zexer – Israel | 2016 – 87 min.
In a Bedouin village in southern Israel, Jalila’s husband is marrying a
second and younger wife. During the celebration, Jalila discovers her
daughter Layla’s involvement with a boy. Burying the indignity of her
husband and his new bride living next door, Jalila also tries to contain Layla
’s situation by clamping down on her. But possessed of a boundless spirit,
Layla sees a different life for herself…
Section: International New Talent Competition
Sayonara by Fukada Koji – Japan | 2015 – 112 min.
The near future. As Japan has become contaminated with radiation, the
government decides to evacuate its residents. Left behind is a South African
refugee, Tanya, and her android caretaker, Leona. The two are left alone
together to contemplate life and death. What separates them? What meaning
does “life” and “death” carry for humans and robots, respectively?
Section: Wild Tales
Ta’ang by Wang Bing – Hong Kong | 2016 – 147 min.
The TA’ANG, a Burmese ethnic minority, are caught between a civil war and
the Chinese border. Since early 2015, heavy fights have forced thousands of
children, women and older people on an exodus across the border into China. TA
’ANG follows the daily life of these refugees, forced to leave their home
but hoping to return soon.
Section: Visions
Tanna by Martin Butler, Bentley Dean – Australia | 2015 – 104 min.
Set in the South Pacific where Wawa, a young girl from a traditional tribe,
falls in love with her chief’s grandson, Dain. When an inter-tribal war
escalates, Wawa is betrothed as part of a peace deal. The young lovers must
choose between their hearts and the future of the tribe. Tanna is based on a
true story and performed by the people of Yakel in Vanuatu.
Section: Sensations
Ten Years
Ten Years by Ng Ka-Leung, Kwok Zune, Kwun-wai Chow, Jevons Au, Wong Fei-Pang
Hong Kong | 2015 – 103 min.
Five shorts, which imagine what Hong Kong will be like in ten years. Five
young Hong Kong directors raise questions about the most central issues
concerning the city, and the audience is invited to ponder. All the stories
are independent, yet at the same time, intricately related to one another,
attempting to portray decisions and struggles of humanity in a dark age.
Section: Echoes
The Black Hen by Min Bahadur Bham – Nepal, France, Germany, Switzerland –
2015 | 90 min.
To seek their lost happiness two young boys embark their journey
relentlessly, completely unaware of the tyranny brought by broken ceasefire,
where they witness various unimaginable events that force them to experience
anger, blame, guilt, frustration and finally hope, which is beyond their
missing hen and their chance to be happy again.
Section: International New Talent Competition
The Bride by Lingo Hsieh – Taiwan | 2015 – 89 min.
TV producer Cheng-Ho is plagued by nightmares about an old mansion, and a
psychic tells him that it’s the memory of his previous incarnation. High
school student Yin-Yin sees ghosts but she chooses to ignore them until she
is possessed by a female ghost. Cheng-Ho’s previous incarnation and Yin-Yin’
s psychic power seem connected in some mysterious way.
Section: Taipei Film Awards – Narrative Features
The Cat in the Closet by Tseng Ying-Ting – Taiwan | 2016 – 82 min.
The sudden death of their son prompts the couple to shut themselves up in
their own worlds. The mother begins to spend more and more time feeding the
stray cats on the street while the father pretends that nothing is wrong.
Eight years after the incident, their daughter comes home, forcing the family
to face their pain again.
Section: Taipei Film Awards – Narrative Features
The Land of the Enlightened by Pieter-Jan De Pue
Belgium, Ireland, Netherlands, Germany, Afghanistan | 2016 – 87 min.
A gang of Afghan kids from the Kuchi tribe dig out old Soviet mines and sell
the explosives to children working in a lapis lazuli mine. When not dreaming
of the time when American troops finally withdraw from their land, another
gang of children keeps tight control on the caravans smuggling the blue
gemstones through the arid mountains of Pamir.
Section: Echoes
The Tag-Along by Cheng Wei-Hao – Taiwan | 2015 – 93 min.
Working as an estate agent, Wei lives with his grandma. One day, his grandma
has gone missing, and on the footage obtained from the surveillance camera,
they spot a shadowy figure, which looks like a little girl in red following
his grandma. While searching for his granny, Wei himself disappears, and his
girlfriend is determined to bring him back.
Section: Taipei Film Awards – Narrative Features
Trailer (Will open in a new window)
The Wounded Angel by Emir Baigazin – Kazakhstan, France, Germany | 2016 –
112 min.
Zharas has to feed his family. Chick is going to a singing contest. Toad
looks for metal scraps to sell. Aslan is a brilliant student going to a
medical college. In mid-90s in Kazakhstan, a time of a deep economical
crisis, four teenagers, who will burn their wings to find a place in the
tough climate of the real world.
Section: International New Talent Competition
While the women are sleeping by Wayne Wang – Japan | 2016 – 103 min.
Kenji and Aya are spending a few days at a hotel over the summer. As she
pursues her work related interests, he tries to find inspiration for his new
novel. A strange couple amongst the other guests awakens his curiosity. Who
are the considerably older man, Sahara, and the young woman, Miki, if not
father and daughter?
Section: Visions
White Lies, Black Lies by Lou Yi-An – Taiwan | 2015 – 95 min.
The body of the Rainbow Salon owner’s wife is found in the basement with her
throat cut open. The owner is the prime suspect, and soon he disappears. A
journalist finds out that the owner has fled with his first love. What are
the relationships between those involved, and who is telling the truth?
Section: Taipei Film Awards – Narrative Features
For more information about the festival please visit the official website:
Taipei Film Festival
http://www.taipeiff.taipei/