The award-winning Taiwanese film Touch of the Light (逆光飛翔) received applause from a full house in Tokyo on Wednesday after a screening that was part of a government initiative to promote Taiwanese culture abroad.
The film was screened at the 500-seat Iino Hall and was followed by a piano performance by actor and musician Huang Yu-hsiang (黃裕翔).
Touch of the Light is about a blind pianist who leaves home to attend university, and a friendship that develops between him and a girl who dreams of becoming a dancer.
The film was inspired by Huang’s own life story and was selected as Taiwan’s entry for Best Foreign Language Film at the 85th Academy Awards last year.
At the event, Huang shared with the audience his experiences in Japan last year, when he put on a series of performances for people affected by the March 11, 2011, earthquake and tsunami.
He said he hoped that his music encouraged the people and gave them confidence.
Taiwan’s representative to Japan, Shen Ssu-tsun (沈斯淳), was among the guests at the event, which was jointly organized by Taiwan’s Ministry of Culture and Japan’s Yomiuri NTV Culture Center as part of the “Spotlight Taiwan Project.”
As part of the project, the ministry collaborates with universities and institutes around the world to promote Taiwanese culture abroad.
In addition to film screenings and art shows planned to run from April to September, the ministry and the Japanese center is also organizing 20 lectures on topics including calligraphy, Taiwanese food and a presentation of exhibitions at the National Palace Museum.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday said it is fully aware of the situation following reports that the son of ousted Chinese politician Bo Xilai (薄熙來) has arrived in Taiwan and is to marry a Taiwanese. Local media reported that Bo Guagua (薄瓜瓜), son of the former member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, is to marry the granddaughter of Luodong Poh-Ai Hospital founder Hsu Wen-cheng (許文政). The pair met when studying abroad and arranged to get married this year, with the wedding breakfast to be held at The One holiday resort in Hsinchu
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon this morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan between Friday and Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The storm, which as of 8am was still 1,100km southeast of southern Taiwan, is currently expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, the CWA said. Because of its rapid speed — 28kph as of 8am — a sea warning for the storm could be issued tonight, rather than tomorrow, as previously forecast, the CWA said. In terms of its impact, Usagi is to bring scattered or
An orange gas cloud that leaked from a waste management plant yesterday morning in Taoyuan’s Guanyin District (觀音) was likely caused by acidic waste, authorities said, adding that it posed no immediate harm. The leak occurred at a plant in the district’s Environmental Science and Technology Park at about 7am, the Taoyuan Fire Department said. Firefighters discovered a cloud of unidentified orange gas leaking from a waste tank when they arrived on the site, it said, adding that they put on Level A chemical protection before entering the building. After finding there was no continuous leak, the department worked with the city’s Department
RSS