It was quite an unusual weekend, as I wondered around the auditorium next to the
Taipei County Library. Several huge banners were placed in front of the building, changing its facade and announcing that 2008
Taipei Film Festival was happening there. More than twenty short films created by Taiwan and international students were screened in the auditorium with no charge. An award ceremony was also held during a thundering Saturday afternoon. Three categories of prizes were announced during the ceremony:
- Golden Lion International Student Film Competition
- Golden Lion Award - Milan (2007) directed by Michaela Kezele
The film that opened my unusual weekend. I got to see it twice in a day because it was screened again after winning the top award. Prior to Taipei, it had won numerous prizes, including best director and production from Munich International Festival Of Filmschools. Read an interview with the director here.
- Silver Lion Award - The Tunnel (2007) directed by Chang, Ying-Hui
This film was actually made by a Taiwanese student. It was selected to participate in both Taiwan and international categories. Winning the second place award indicated that it was worthy of the double nomination. In fact, the film also won a special award in the Taiwan category for fiction.
- Bronze Lion Award - Death of Shula (2007) directed by Asaf Korman
The director's family members, including himself, played themselves in this emotional film about the family dog, Shula. The film ended with the father of the family crying unstoppably in front of the camera--after waking up the next morning right beside where he buried Shula--and the director telling him to stop. The director revealed during the Q&A session that he wrote the final scene knowing that his father, being a longtime professional actor, wouldn't get out of the character so quickly and the effect would produce a sense of reality, although the film was fictional.
- Special Mention - Lovesick (2007) directed by Spela Cadez
A warm and humorous film that drew a lot of laughter from the audience. The director realized "broken heart" and "head turned backwards", a German expression, with clay animation.
- Golden Lion Taiwan Student Film Competition (Fiction and Non-Fiction)
- Special Mention - Knockout (2007) directed by Li, Yi-Shan (Non-Fiction)
Inspired by Million Dollar Baby, the film documented a student boxer's arduous preparation for a world-class competition. The weeping confession after losing the critical match drew sympathy and left a question that audience desperately wanted to know: what happened next? The question was answered by the boxer herself, when the director brought her in front the audience during the Q&A session: she was back to training again, preparing for the next world-class competition.
- Special Mention - Marrow (2008) directed by Yong, Deng-Chi (Non-Fiction)
- Special Mention - Hiya (2007) directed by Lai, Wen-Hsuan (Fiction)
A very refreshing film from a very ambitious director. Hiya, a nickname of the main character, played by the director himself, means "in big trouble" in Taiwanese. The big trouble the young man got into was losing a package of artistic nude photographs that he was responsible to deliver. The peculiar solution came up by the young man and his sidekicks was to shoot nude photographs of themselves.
- Special Mention - The Tunnel (2007) directed by Chang, Ying-Hui (Fiction)
- Special Mention - Puppets (2007) directed by Lin, Chun-Yang (Fiction)
- New Talent Competition
It was quite an unusual weekend, as I wondered around the auditorium next to the Taipei County Library. Several huge banners were placed in front of the building, changing its facade and announcing that 2008 Taipei Film Festival was happening there. More than twenty short films created by Taiwan and international students were screened in the auditorium with no charge. An award ceremony was also held during a thundering Saturday afternoon. Three categories of prizes were announced during the ceremony:
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