The South Taiwan Film Festival (南方影展) was invited to the Asian Independent Cinema Showcase in Vancouver, Canada, on Mar. 22, to screen three award-winning short films to the Canadian audience. The short films presented were “There (入世),” “The Darkest Night (鐵樹開了花),” and “Night is Young (夜更).”
Based on a real-life event experienced by Taiwanese director Wu Yu-fen (吳郁芬), “There” tells the story of an Indonesian caregiver who finds herself obliged to attend a funeral where none of the deceased's children return for the event.
“The Darkest Night,” a short film by Malaysian director Toh Tze-wei (杜芷慧), delves into the crisis driven by the closing down of Chinese schools due to the official language policy, from the perspective of a young student.
Hong Kong director Zune Kwok (郭臻) explores the dynamics of the 2019-2020 Hong Kong protests in his short film “Night is Young.” The story follows a taxi driver who consecutively transports a student and two anti-protesters to the scene of the demonstration.
Joe Huang (黃柏喬), the artistic director of the South Taiwan Film Festival, pointed out that while most foreigners associate Taiwan primarily with Taipei, he aims to highlight other facets of the country through this festival.