Four Taiwanese films were selected to screen at the 11th American Documentary and Animation Film Festival (AmDocs), which was held on April 7 through 11 at the Camelot Theatres of Palm Springs, California. The documentary film "Ballet In Tandem(舞徑)" was awarded the Best International Feature Jury Award.
Supported by the Taiwan Academy of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Los Angeles, Taiwanese director Yang Wei-hsin (楊偉新) and two Taiwanese professional dancers, Liang Shih-huai (梁世懷) and Kuo Jung-an (郭蓉安) from the "Ballet In Tandem" attended the festival.
The "Ballet In Tandem" explores the state of ballet in Taiwan and centers on several Taiwanese dancers’ journeys in dance. In a symposium after the screening, director Yang explained why he was dedicated to documenting the ballet dancers for more than nine years, and hoped that this film would highlight the problems encountered in the educational system of ballet in Taiwan and the challenges that dancers were facing when developing their careers. Moreover, Liang Shih-huai, a soloist of South Korean's Universal Ballet, and Kuo Jung-an, the first Taiwanese to be selected for the Bolshoi Ballet Academy in Russia, shared their enthusiasm and dedication to their dance careers with the audience.
In addition to the "Ballet In Tandem," the lineup from Taiwan this year included "No Man Is An Island (沒有人該成為孤島)," a film about the panic caused by the COVID-19 global pandemic, an animation short film "Girl In The Water (水中的女孩)," and an environmental short film "Life In The Coral Reef (珊瑚礁魚)."
Founded in 2011, AmDocs has been held annually at the Camelot Theatres of Palm Springs, California. Over 2000 works were submitted this year, and the organizer selected more than 200 documentaries and animations from 70 countries to screen at the festival.