The University of British Columbia (UBC) in Canada hosted the Asian Independent Cinema Showcase on Mar. 13, featuring three award-winning documentary shorts from Taiwan: “K’s Room (K的房間),” “32 Km – 60 Years (32公里~六十年),” and “Leo & Nymphia (雙面曹里歐).” All three directors attended the post-screening discussion.
Titled “In Search of the Self,” the program explores the theme of identity within indigenous, historical, and LGBTQ+ contexts.
Directed by Hung Wei-lin (洪瑋伶), “K’s Room” uses the “New English Grammar,” one of Taiwan’s most popular English grammar books published in 1960, to reconstruct the mental status of its author, one of the political victims during martial law.
Laha Mebow’s (陳潔瑤) “32 Km – 60 Years” guides us to an indigenous village that has been abandoned for more than sixty years. Laha Mebow is an Atayal and the first female indigenous film director in Taiwan.
Pan Hsin An’s (潘信安) “Leo & Nymphia” follows twenty-five-year-old Leo Tsao, who is internationally best-known as Nymphia the drag queen.
Helena Wu, assistant professor at UBC’s Asian Studies Department, noted that Taiwan’s culture embraces fluidity and diversity. She emphasized that the featured films address issues that resonate with Canadian audiences, fostering a deeper appreciation.