The 3rd Flowers of Taiwan Film Festival was held on Sep. 23 by the Ministry of Culture, the Cultural Division of Taipei Representative Office in Italy, and Joint Cultural Initiatives at the famous MAXXI National Museum of 21st Century Art in Rome.
Themed around "Taiwanese Memory, Identity, and History," the festival screened classic films of the Taiwanese New Wave, documentaries from 1986 to 1990, local folklore documentaries, films by emerging Taiwanese directors, and video art by contemporary Taiwanese artists. The screenings were accompanied by interviews with five Taiwanese directors, including Tsai Ming-liang (蔡明亮), Wu Tzu-an (吳梓安), Singing Chen (陳芯宜), Chu Hsien-che (朱賢哲), and Ko Chen-nien (柯貞年), as well as two lectures on film topics. It was a veritable banquet of Taiwanese cinematic culture for Italian cinephiles.
Taiwan's representative in Italy Lee Sing-ying (李新穎) remarked that "films" are one of the important means for Italians to get to know Taiwanese culture better. He welcomed the fact that the Flowers of Taiwan Film Festival, in its third year in 2021, was able to overcome the challenges of the pandemic and hold a physical screening at the famous MAXXI National Museum of 21st Century Art in Rome. He also celebrated that the festival provides a meaningful way for local audiences to see the wonderful creations of Taiwan's outstanding Taiwanese filmmakers from the past and the present.
Chairwoman of the culture office in Italy Teng Mei-jung (鄧美容) says that they plan to continue to introduce Taiwanese films through local screenings in conjunction with major Italian film festivals, linking up with international Asian film festivals in Italy to launch Taiwanese film programs, and inviting local curators or art/cultural institutions to help Italians get to know Taiwan's quality film and television creators and works. This will also open up professional dialog between the two countries across the international film and television industry while promoting the strengths of Taiwanese culture. In the future, they will continue to carry out various film promotion programs to enhance the visibility of outstanding Taiwanese works and creators.
To further grow the audience for Taiwanese film in Italy, the Taipei Representative Office in Italy and the Ministry of Culture have worked together since 2019 to organize Taiwanese film festivals which have so far screened 28 selected films and 15 modern video art works by Taiwanese video artists.