Taiwanese filmmakers are to showcase five new projects in the middle of next month at the international film market of the Cannes Film Festival to promote diverse Taiwanese films globally.
Supported by the Ministry of Culture’s “1 plus 4-T-content plan,” the Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival Executive Committee announced the participation of filmmakers in Golden Horse Goes to Cannes: Chen Yu-hsun (陳玉勳), Yang Ya-che, Huang Xi (黃熙), Giddens Ko (九把刀) and John Hsu (徐漢強), showcasing a range of genres from epic, romance, comedy and fantasy to gender awareness.
The films to be screened are The Chronicles of Libidoists (破浪男女) directed by Yang, Dead Talents Society (鬼才之道) by Huang, Kung Fu (功夫) by Ko, as well as Chen’s new film A Foggy Tale (大濛) and Daughter’s Daughter (女兒的女兒) codirected by Huang and Sylvia Chang (張艾嘉).
The Chronicles of Libidoists, the 2021 Golden Horse Film Project Promotion selectee, is a contemporary adaptation of The Little Mermaid exploring themes of sex and love. The cast includes Golden Horse Awards winner Wu Kang-ren (吳慷仁), nominee Will Or (柯煒林), and new talents Liu Chu-ping (劉主平) and Alisia Liang (梁湘華).
Meanwhile, in Dead Talents Society, directed by Hsu with support from veteran producers Lee Lieh (李烈), Aileen Li (李耀華) and Ivy Chen (陳怡樺), a rookie ghost teams up with experienced spirits to achieve legendary status.
Daughter’s Daughter delves into mother-daughter relationships and in vitro fertilization from a female perspective. The film is also supported by the ministry’s film project promotion and screenplay awards.
In Kung Fu, Ko assembled Golden Horse-winning actors Leon Dai (戴立忍), Kai Ko (柯震東) and Berant Zhu (朱軒洋) for a modern fantastic adventure depicting the journey of two high-school losers learning martial arts and unraveling the mystery of an old man.
Meanwhile, Chen focuses on Taiwan’s White Terror era in A Foggy Tale, depicting the story of a young girl on a life-threatening journey to raise money to redeem the remaining members of her family.
The film is presented by award-winning producers Yeh Ju-feng (葉如芬) and Lee Lieh, with a refreshing cast including Golden Horse Award winner Caitlin Fang (方郁 婷), nominee Will Or and musician-turned-actress 9m88 (湯氍綺).
The “1 plus 4-T-content plan,” with a budget of NT$10 billion (US$310 million) over four years, aims to revitalize Taiwan’s cultural content industry, including film and television.
ANOTHER EMERGES: The CWA yesterday said this year’s fourth storm of the typhoon season had formed in the South China Sea, but was not expected to affect Taiwan Tropical Storm Gaemi has intensified slightly as it heads toward Taiwan, where it is expected to affect the country in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 8am yesterday, the 120km-radius storm was 800km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving at 9kph northwest, the agency said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued tonight at the earliest, it said, adding that the storm is projected to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday. Gaemi’s potential effect on Taiwan remains unclear, as that would depend on its direction, radius and intensity, forecasters said. Former Weather Forecast
As COVID-19 cases in Japan have been increasing for 10 consecutive weeks, people should get vaccinated before visiting the nation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said. The centers reported 773 hospitalizations and 124 deaths related to COVID-19 in Taiwan last week. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) on Tuesday said the number of weekly COVID-19 cases reported in Japan has been increasing since mid-May and surpassed 55,000 cases from July 8 to July 14. The average number of COVID-19 patients at Japan’s healthcare facilities that week was also 1.39 times that of the week before and KP.3 is the dominant
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) working group for Taiwan-related policies is likely to be upgraded to a committee-level body, a report commissioned by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said. As Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is increasingly likely to upgrade the CCP’s Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs, Taiwanese authorities should prepare by researching Xi and the CCP, the report said. At the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP, which ended on Thursday last week, the party set a target of 2029 for the completion of some tasks, meaning that Xi is likely preparing to
US-CHINA TRADE DISPUTE: Despite Beijing’s offer of preferential treatment, the lure of China has dimmed as Taiwanese and international investors move out Japan and the US have become the favored destinations for Taiwanese graduates as China’s attraction has waned over the years, the Ministry of Labor said. According to the ministry’s latest income and employment advisory published this month, 3,215 Taiwanese university graduates from the class of 2020 went to Japan, surpassing for the first time the 2,881 graduates who went to China. A total of 2,300 graduates from the class of 2021 went to the US, compared with the 2,262 who went to China, the document showed. The trend continued for the class of 2023, of whom 1,460 went to Japan, 1,334 went to