"Doctor (醫生)," a black-and-white documentary feature directed by Taiwanese film director Chung Mong-Hong (鍾孟宏) will be screened at the virtual cinema of New York City based Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) from Mar. 11 through Mar. 17.
In celebration of the 20th edition of its annual international nonfiction film festival, MoMA will be presenting "20 Years of Doc Fortnight" at its virtual cinema from Mar. 4 through Mar. 17. It will be streaming 10 different films selected from around the world, with focuses ranging from the cosmic to the deeply personal.
Included among the films is Taiwanese director Chung Mong-hong's debut documentary feature "Doctor." The film revolves around a Taiwanese-American oncology doctor, Dr. Wen who previously lost his son to suicide. It captures his journey of healing through grief while treating a 12-year-old Peruvian boy, who is suffering from cancer.
In efforts to subdue scenes filled with mawkish sentimentality, Chung shot the documentary in black-and-white, blending in Dr. Wen's home video footage as well as his son's precocious drawings, and scored the images with Bach's classics, John Cage's modern music, and Latin music. Chung says that the documentary is both factual and poetic, allowing audience to be able to reflect on life, death, and hope throughout the screening.
"Doctor" won the Best Documentary Award at the 2006 Taipei Film Festival, as well as the Merit Prize from the Asian Vision Competition and the PTS Audience Choice Award at the 2006 Taiwan International Documentary Festival. It was also selected for the "Regards Neufs" section at the 2007 Visions du Réel International Film Festival. Chung's latest fiction feature "A SUN (陽光普照)" has also made the Oscar shortlist in the International Feature Film category of the 93rd Academy Awards.
For more information, please visit MoMA website.
Photo Courtesy of Cream Film Production (甜蜜生活製作公司)