The Vancouver Taiwanese Film Festival (VTWFF) 2024, themed “Honoring Tradition, Igniting Innovation,” took place from Sept. 6 and 7. It featured four films with Taiwanese elements, celebrating Taiwanese culture within the Canadian community.
The featured films included Tsai Ming-liang’s (蔡明亮) “Vive L’amour,” Ang Lee’s (李安) “Life of Pi,” Hsiao Ya-chuan’s (蕭雅全) “Old Fox,” and Philip Shih’s (施文翰) “But First, Coffee.”
Charlene Liu (夏琳), chairperson of VTWFF, remarked that the festival opener, “Unspoken (傳承),” a short film created by young Taiwanese Canadian filmmakers, was chosen over a more well-known film to invite the younger generation to share their perspective on the film industry.
Apple Chang (張郁柔), producer of “Unspoken,” highlighted that the actors and production crew were Taiwanese individuals either born in Canada or who have lived in Canada since childhood. Unfamiliar with Taiwanese culture, they sought to reconnect with their root through this project.
Director General Liu Li-hsin (劉立欣) of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Vancouver praised the energy and creativity of the young filmmakers, noting that the film is a powerful medium for promoting cross-cultural interaction.