The Taiwan Film Festival in Australia 2024 introduced the “Pitching Competition – From Taiwanese Bookshelves to Screen (臺灣書櫃－臺灣出版品改編短片提案競賽)” for the first time, selecting five adaptation projects from 20 submissions across Australia. Each winning project was awarded A$5,000, with screenings planned for next year.
Out of the five selected projects, three are based on Wu Ming-yi’s (吳明益) novel “The Stolen Bicycle (單車失竊記),” one on Chiou Charng-ting’s (邱常婷) novel “A Thousand Scars (千萬傷疤),” and one on Dailygreen’s (每日青菜) comic “Day Off.”
Wu Cheng-wei (吳正偉), the Director General of Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Sydney, noted that the competition aims to encourage Australian filmmakers to adapt Taiwanese literature into screenplay, expanding its international reach.
At the festival’s closing event on Sept. 14, “And Miles to Go Before I Sleep (九槍),” a Taiwanese documentary directed by Tsai Tsung-lung (蔡崇隆), was screened at the Event Cinemas in Sydney, followed by a post-screening discussion with director Tsai.
For more information on the festival, visit the festival’s website or Facebook page.