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Hawaii film festival to feature Taiwanese cinemas online and in theater

  • Date:2020-11-05~2020-11-29
Hawaii film festival to feature Taiwanese cinemas online and in theater

The upcoming Hawaii International Film Festival (HIFF) is going to showcase Taiwanese cinemas via its streaming platform and at the Hawaii-based Consolidated Theatres, as part of its decade-old "Spotlight on Taiwan" segment that will run from Nov. 5 to 29.

While a total of four cinematic works from Taiwan – two feature films "Detention (返校)" and "Get the Hell Out (逃出立法院)" and two short films "Growing Pains (少年阿堯)" and "See You, Sir (主管再見)" – will be presented via HIFF's streaming platform, feature films "I WeirDo (怪胎)" and "A Leg (腿)" will be screened at the theater.

The first Asian feature film shot entirely on an iPhone, "I WeirDo" is a love story involving two individuals who suffer from obsessive compulsive disorder. "A Leg" follows a married couple who met each other at a ballroom dancing event. After the husband passed away during a leg amputation surgery, the wife had no choice but to go against the hospital bureaucracy to keep the body of her husband intact.

Adapted from a video game, "Detention" is an award-winning thriller set in 1960s Taiwan under martial law. "Get the Hell Out," meanwhile, is a zombie comedy that pokes fun at the political ecology in Taiwan.

Short film "Growing Pain" depicts a young man's portray of his father, while "See You, Sir" provides insight into young inmates' predicament in the juvenile detention house.

Another highlight at "Spotlight on Taiwan" is an online seminar on Nov. 13, featuring Taiwanese VR guru John Hsu (徐漢強) who is also the director of "Detention." 

Hsu will share with the audience in the U.S. his works which involve a number of mediums and shed light on today's filmmaking industry. The director will also touch upon how development of Taiwan's VR/XR technology shapes the filmmaking process in the nation and inspires new narrative forms from his vantage.

Furthermore, two of Hsu's VR pieces – "Your Spiritual Temple Sucks (全能元神宮改造王)" and "Great Hoax: The Moon Landing (星際大騙局之登月計劃)" – will be featured in HIFF XR Showcase.

Now in its 40th year, the HIFF has become a premiere cinematic event in the Pacific region and annually attracts more than 50,000 film enthusiasts from around the U.S. and throughout the world, according to the festival.

Some of the film selections are available to stream across the U.S., while others are geoblocked to the festival's state boundaries. Visit here to learn more about 2020 HIFF.