The Los Angeles Taiwanese Film Festival, 2008

The Taiwan Film Festival features nine eclectic documentaries with a wide array of themes and topics.

The festival is quite eclectic. Themes of the nine documentary and feature films include: a new take on an old martial arts film where breakdancing replaces kung fu in a Taiwanese street dance/ breakdance competition; a glimpse at the lives of Chiang Kai-shek’s displaced soldiers; the estrangement of young lesbians in contemporary Taiwan; Asia’s “King of Pop” Jay Chou in an epic romance about a piano prodigy; the design and creation of the fastest running solar powered car for a 3,000 kilometer race in Australia; creating new spawning grounds for squids; a documentary about Taiwan’s Golden “Dance Age” of the 1920’s and 30’s; and Cape No.7, Taiwan’s nominee as a contender for this year’s Best Foreign-language Academy Award, and the all-time best selling film in the 101 years history of Taiwan cinema.

Program Calendar

Friday December 12:

07:00– 08:30 pm           Opening beer and hors d'oeuvres reception, “An introduction to Taiwan Cinema” by UCLA Prof. Robert Chi (Free Admission)

08:30 – 10:15 pm          Chocolate Rap 巧克力重擊 (Free Admission)

Saturday December 13:

09:30 – 11:30 am          Secret 不能說的秘密 (Free Admission)

11:30 – 01:20 pm          For More Sun  夢想無限 (Free Admission)

01:20 – 03:00 pm          Grandma’s Hairpin 銀簪子 (Free Admission)

03:00 – 05:00 pm          Viva Tonal  跳舞時代 (Free Admission)

05:00 – 06:30 pm          Roundtable Discussion - “From Debut Features to Anything about Filmmaking in Taiwan” Berenice Reynaud ( Calif Institute of Arts), Leo Chen (University of Minnesota), Guo-Juin Hong (Duke University), Teddy Zee (Hollywood film producer), Chi-Yuarn Lee (film director from Taiwan), and Brian Hu (UCLA PhD candidate, APA editor).    (Free Admission)

07:00 – 09:30 pm          Cape No. 7 海角七號 (Ticket required)

Sunday December 14:

09:30 – 10:40 am           Squid Daddy’s Labor Room 產房 (Free Admission)

10:40 – 12:25 pm     Reflections 愛麗斯的鏡子 (Free Admission)
12:25 – 02:35 pm     Do Over  一年之初 (Free Admission)

03:00 – 05:10 pm     Cape No. 7 海角七號 (Ticket required)

05:10 – 06:10 pm     Closing Ceremony; Special presentation by Cape No. 7 director Te-Sheng Wei; Keynote Speech “Around the Corner of the Sea: Cape No. 7 and Taiwan Cinema in the Age of Globalization” by Duke University Prof. Guo-Juin Hong (Ticket required)

06:10 – 08:00 pm     After Party Reception (Ticket required)

***For more information, please call (626) 569-0692 or visit http://www.tufusa.org.