A slew of Taiwanese movies at the Cannes Film Festival offer Taiwan an increasingly rare chance to tell its stories on the global stage.
Introducing his neo-noir thriller Locust (蟲) at the world-famous festival, artist and director KEFF (王凱民) said he was “not interested in debating whether or not Taiwan should be a country.”
“But we’ve gotten to a point where to even reflect the reality of Taiwan is to be provocative, and I don’t agree with that,” he said.
Photo courtesy of CDP & Anupheap Production via CNA
Locust centers on Chung-Han (鍾翰), a restaurant worker who runs with a violent gang by night, and is mute — a striking metaphor for his homeland.
“Chung-Han represents a generation that is unable to speak for itself, but also a place, Taiwan, that is unable to speak for itself,” the director said.
Actor Liu Wei-chen (劉韋辰) was forbidden to speak for weeks before shooting began, to prepare for the role.
Meanwhile Mongrel (白衣蒼狗), which premiered on Monday, explores the lives of undocumented workers, including a caregiver living in the mountains of Taiwan.
Its producer, Lynn Chen (陳瑭羚), told The Hollywood Reporter that Cannes provides an opportunity to share a “unique and compelling cinematic experience.”
KEFF, who has lived much of his life in the US, set out to create his portrait of Taiwanese youth soon after moving back to Taiwan in 2019.
He said he observed a surprising lack of interest from younger generations in Beijing’s crackdown on nearby Hong Kong — an encroachment that many fear could preface a full-scale invasion of Taiwan.
The film also explores the lack of interest in international affairs among young Taiwanese.
KEFF said he wanted to tell human stories from a nation too often viewed by the rest of the world merely as a potential flash point for World War III or a source of top-end semiconductors.
“We’re not just a headline in the news,” he said.
The government has in the past few years tried to make up for its lack of diplomatic clout by building up soft power through film.
Taiwanese funding — including government-backed initiatives — is behind two other films: The Shameless, set in India, and Rendez-vous avec Pol Pot (約見波布, Meeting with Pol Pot), based in Cambodia.
Another, Traversing the Mist (穿越霧中) offers an immersive and explicit look inside a Taiwanese gay sauna.
“We’re not provocateurs, but we have a history of being brave, and so I feel that history should continue,” KEFF said. “Taiwanese people must continue to advocate for themselves. I’m not saying as a political entity, but as human beings.”
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS