The Dutch film festival, the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR), which took place from Jan. 25 to Feb. 4, 2024, had included classic Taiwanese documentary "Emperor's Adventures in Hsi Hu (乾隆遊西湖)" in its Cinema Regained Program.
The Taiwan Film and Audiovisual Institute (TFAI) mentioned that the IFFR Cinema Regained Program focuses on film-restoration projects, cinema culture documentaries, and cinema heritage related themes. This particular edition of the program selected 46 films, among them "Emperor's Adventures in Hsi Hu" directed by Liu Yi-hung (劉議鴻) and "The Great White Tower" by Japanese director Satsuo Yamamoto.
Produced in 1994, “Emperor's Adventures in Hsi Hu” is a documentary about master puppeteer Li Tian-lu (李天祿) and his troupe I Wan Jan Puppet Theater (亦宛然掌中劇團). The TFAI launched a 4K digital restoration project on this film and completed the project in 2023.
In addition to this documentary, two other Taiwanese films, “Who’ll Stop the Rain (青春並不溫柔)” directed by Su I-hsuan (蘇奕瑄) and “When the Wind Rises (下風處)” directed by Chen Hung (陳浤), had also been selected for the IFFR 2024.