"Lost in Forest (山中森林)," a film starring award-winning actor Lee Kang Sheng (李康生), is scheduled to premiere on April 16 as part of Asian Pop-Up Cinema (APUC) season 16. Taiwanese writer/director Johnny Chiang (姜寧) and Lee will introduce the film and participate in a Q&A session afterward.
"Day Off (本日公休)," "Marry My Dead Body (關於我和鬼變成家人的那件事)," and "GAGA (哈勇家)" have also been selected as part of APUC's Taiwan cinema program. "Lost in Forest" is an action-gangster feature about two childhood friends that reconnect after one is released from prison. The ex-prisoner faces a desperate situation: Despite his earnest desire to leave the gang and start a law-abiding life, many different causes, including his best friend, are preventing him from doing so.
"Day Off," directed by Fu Tien-Yu, features veteran actress Lu Hsiao-Fen, a two-time Asia Pacific Film Festival winner for Best Leading Actress, in her first film performance in 20 years. Lu returns to the big screen as A-Rui, a barbershop owner who decides to close her shop to try a new life journey. Lu recently won the Yakushi Pearl Award at the 2023 Osaka Asian Film Festival for her performance in the film.
"Marry My Dead Body" is a comedy that transcends the boundaries of both life and gender. The story is about a ghost of a dead man who was set to marry a same-sex police officer before reincarnation. The feature had been selected as the closing film of the 2022 Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival, Taiwan's largest and longest-running film festival. The film was also the highest-grossing Taiwanese film of 2022, and it is the eighth highest-grossing Taiwanese film in the history of Taiwanese cinema.
"GAGA" is a Taiwanese indigenous term referring to ancient traditional tribal norms. The film is directed by Taiwanese Atayal director Laha Mebow, the first female indigenous director in Taiwan. Her career spans over two decades, focusing on indigenous movies and documentaries. "GAGA," a present-day story about an indigenous Taiwanese family, has won awards for Best Director and Best Supporting Actress (Kagaw Piling) at the 59th Golden Horse Awards, as well as Best Director-Asian Feature Film at the Singapore International Film Festival 2022.
The Chicago-based festival runs from March 18 to April 16 and includes 25 notable works by filmmakers residing in France, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, the U.S., and Vietnam. Since its inception in 2015, APUC has provided diverse films for audiences in Chicago to learn more about Asian cultures. For more information, please visit:
https://www.asianpopupcinema.org/season-16-1