"Get the Hell Out (逃出立法院)," a zombie comedy farce by Taiwanese director Wang I-fan's (王逸帆), has been selected as one of the 50 films to be screened at the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) scheduled for Sept. 10 to 11.
Shot in the southern city of Kaohsiung, the dark comedy is the emerging director's first feature film, which depicts a chaotic situation when desperate survivals are struggling to escape from Taiwan's Parliament building where a deadly virus has turned most of the law makers and government officials into the walking dead.
"Get the Hell Out," the only Taiwanese film selected for TIFF's 45th edition, is selected for the Midnight Madness section, a category that explores cinema's provocative and dangerous frontiers.
Described "Get the Hell Out" as the filmmaker's "uproariously entertaining feature debut," Peter Kuplowsky, Midnight Madness section’s programmer, said the film "cheekily satirizes this escalation from filibusters to fisticuffs with a premise that sees these passionate politicians mutate into ravenous flesh-eating zombies."
Upon learning the news, Wang said he feels truly honored that "Get the Hell Out," his first feature film, is selected for the section of which he has been dreamed of for a long time.
Wang, graduated from the Taipei National University of the Arts, is a director, screenwriter, and cinematographer. His 2017 short film "02-06 (洞兩洞六)" won the first prize in the student section and the personal performance award of Taiwan's Golden Harvest Awards, an accolade that serves as an important cradle for the nation’s film industry.
"Get the Hell Out" will be screened three times at TIFF Bell Lightbox, a cultural center in downtown Toronto, from Sept. 10 to 11 and streamed online at Bell Digital Cinema on Sept. 11. The virtual screening is geoblocked outside Canadian territories.
Established in 1976, the Toronto International Film Festival is one of the important film festivals in North America and has been touted as the "the Oracle of Oscars." This year, TIFF has adapted to the COVID-19 pandemic and only selected 50 films for screening, compared to 245 last year.
From Sept. 10 to 19, the festival will take place at theaters, drive-ins, or online. Visit here for more information.