The 2023 London East Asia Film Festival, held from Oct. 18 to 29, saw collaboration between the Cultural Division of the Taipei Representative Office in the UK and the festival organizers. As part of this collaboration, seven Taiwanese films were selected for screening, and director Fu Tien-yu (傅天余) was invited to London to attend the premiere of “Day Off (本日公休)” at Odeon Luxe West End on Oct. 21, followed by a post-screening discussion.
“Day Off” has previously won the Best Screenplay award at the 25th Udine Far East Film Festival, the Best Actress and Best Supporting Actor awards at the 2023 Taipei Film Festival, and received multiple nominations at this year’s Golden Horse Awards. The screenplay was inspired by director Fu’s own family story, with the film’s lead character, A-Juei, who has been running a family barber shop for over 40 years, being based on the director’s mother. The film’s primary location was the director’s hometown in Taichung, Taiwan.
During the post-screening discussion, Fu shared with the audience that this film is a story of her own family. She particularly emphasized that the film represents her feelings about Taiwan, the place where she grew up. She believes that Taiwan’s greatest quality is the mutual support among its people, and she hopes to let the world experience this aspect of Taiwan through her film.
In addition to “Day Off,” the Taiwanese films selected for the festival included Li Yi-fang (李怡芳)’s “Little Blue (小藍),” Zero Chou (周美玲)’s “Untold Herstory (流麻溝十五號),” Chan Ching-lin (詹京霖)’s “Coo-Coo 043 (一家子兒咕咕叫),” Laha Mebow’s “Gaga,” and two classic restored films presented in collaboration with the Taiwan Film and Audiovisual Institute (TFAI), Wan Jen (萬仁)’s “Ah Fei (油麻菜籽)” and Hsu Hsiao-ming (徐小明)’s “Dust of Angels (少年吔，安啦！).”
Chen Pin-chuen (陳斌全), the Director of the Cultural Division in the UK, expressed that the Cultural Division is collaborating with various film and television organizations and festivals in the UK to introduce Taiwanese cinema to a diverse range of audiences, providing opportunities to explore various types of Taiwanese visual content. The London East Asia Film Festival has become a platform for promoting Taiwanese commercial films to audiences in the UK and has helped Taiwanese cinema reach audiences who appreciate Asian popular culture and are interested in commercial film genres, in addition to introducing classic Taiwanese films to local film enthusiasts.
The London East Asia Film Festival (LEAFF) was established in 2015 and has been collaborating with the Taiwanese Ministry of Culture since 2017. It has become one of London’s must-attend annual events. This year’s festival featured 49 contemporary works and classic restored films from South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong, China, Tibet, the Philippines, and Macau.