The Ministry of Culture organized "Taiwan Ocean Culture Film Festival 2021 (2021台灣海洋文化影展)," running from Sep.1 to Nov. 21, with the aim to deepen local understanding of the ocean. The opening day included an opening ceremony and the world premiere of a documentary "May Sea Turtles Be With You... Always (平安龜)" by Taiwanese filmmaker Ke Chin-yuan (柯金源).
Those present at the ceremony include Minster of Culture Lee Yung-te, filmmaker Ke Chin-yuan and the festival's ambassador Suming Rupi (舒米恩).
This year’s festival consists of five sub-themes : "Oceanic Love Song(浪人情歌),"Panorama (國際大觀)," "Director in Focus (焦點導演)," "Taiwan Waves (在地浪潮)" and "New Waves (青年的島)," screening a total of 40 domestic and foreign productions dedicated to ocean-themed topics. Five of the Taiwanese films will have its premiere at the festival, including "Descent (烈愛生命之海)," "I Want to Go Home (311漫漫回家路)," "The Octopus in My House (我的章魚家人)," "The Long Coast(讓海活下去)" and "Entangled(露脊鯨的終局之戰)." The 12 foreign films are from the United States, Korea, Japan and others.
Minister Lee pointed out, "Salute to Sea" is an important policy launched after Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) introduced the "Salute to Mountains" policy, and these initiatives involved planning from various ministries and committees. MOC selected several films and documentaries to promote and educate marine culture to the public, hoping that audiences of all ages can understand and love the ocean.
Minister Lee also expressed gratitude to the organizer and director Ke for dedicating the world premiere of "May Sea Turtles Be With You... Always" to the festival. He emphasized that Taiwan is surrounded by the sea and has a rich marine environment as well as resources, therefore, the Taiwan Ocean Culture Film Festival will continue to be held.
The film festival will tour 10 cities and counties across Taiwan starting from September to November, with over 100 screenings and 34 sessions of forums and symposiums. For more information, please visit www.tocff.tw.