Celebrate the best of contemporary Taiwanese films by attending this year’s Taiwan Film Days at the New People Cinema in San Francisco’s Japantown. The three-day event offers something for everyone, from soft romantic love to gritty gangster flicks and light-hearted comedies to thought-provoking documentaries. Join the opening night festivities at 9 pm on October 14 at the gallery of the New People Building (1746 Post Street, between Webster and Buchanan Streets).
Formosa Mambo opens the festival on Friday evening with screening at 7 and 9:45 pm. Although scheduled to be the first film in the line-ups, it was usurped by You Are the Apple of My Eye at 4:30 pm on Friday. The movie was a hit at this year’s Taipei International Film Festival and the movie has received a lot of press in the Chinese media since. Initially, the San Francisco Film Society scheduled only one showing on Saturday evening, but when the tickets quickly sold out, another showing was added on the opening day. Both showings are now sold out, with only a few rush tickets set aside.
This year, two directors from Taiwan will be present at Taiwan Film Days. Wang Chi-tsai, the director of Formosa Mambo, will be here for the opening night and be present to answer questions after his film. A Golden Bell award-winning director, he also wrote the screen play for this movie as well. Formosa Mambo, a comedy of errors about a kidnapping gone awry, is sure to be a crowd pleaser.
Along with Wang, director Huang Hsin-yao will also be present at the festival. Huang directed the documentary Taivalu about the impending plight of the island nation of Tuvalu, predicted to be the first island to be submerged due to global warming. The film won the Grand Prize and Best Documentary Prize at the 2011 Taipei International Film Festival.
This year’s line-up also include: Bear It, The Coming of Tulku, Honey Pupu, Pinoy Sunday, and Ranger. For more information about tickets, venue and the films, please visit this issue’s Photo Gallery.
Taiwan Film Days is presented by the San Francisco Film Society and sponsored by the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in San Francisco, Taiwan’s Government Information Office, Taiwan’s Tourism Bureau, and EVA Air. Its media sponsors are Hyphen Magazine and San Francisco Bay Guardian.