Taiwanese films will be screened for the first time at the Yangon-based Wathann Filmfest, thanks to a collaboration between the Taiwan Cinema Toolkit project and Myanmar’s first independent film festival.
"Let the Wind Carry Me (乘著光影旅行)" is a 2009 documentary that details three years of decorated cinematographer Mark Lee Ping-bing's (李屏賓) life on film sets around the world, offering incredible insight on both the professional and family man behind the camera: "The world got smaller, but home got further away."
Not only does the documentary feature interviews with his long-time collaborators including directors Hou Hsiao-hsien (侯孝賢), Wong Kar-wai (王家衛), and Sylvia Chang (張艾嘉) and actors Chang Chen (張震), Shu Qi (舒淇), and Karena Lam (嘉欣), it also includes gems such as Lee's appreciation of meteorological "gifts from above" rather than complaining about shoddy weather.
"Small Talk (日常對話)" is a courageous portrayal of the director's family story that offers audience members an inside look at traditional Taiwanese culture. The film unfolds with a difficult conversation between director Huang Hui-chen (黃惠偵) and her mother, who is a lesbian single mother who ran away from an abusive arranged marriage.
As Huang and her mother start a journey to face the inconvenient past and mend their relations, this powerful documentary manages to be of universal significance and extremely intimate at the same time.
Wathann Filmfest will also screen four Taiwan shorts ― "Babes' Not Alone (亮亮與噴子)," on an eighteen-year-old who has to take care of her brother's newborn; "Letter #69 (第六十九信)," on the number of letters a White Terror victim wrote in prison; "Towards the Sun (迎向邊疆公路)," on two loners embarking on a road trip along Taiwan's eastern coast; and "Wild Tides (野潮)," a raw depiction of rural Taiwanese youths with nothing to do.
Please refer to the event site http://www.wathannfilmfestival.com/177764/taiwan-shorts for screening schedules and more.