The 16 documentaries and fiction films presented in the section "New Landscape of Women's Cinema" touched upon global social issues. "Women directors should be able to deal with all kinds of topics rather than only women's issues," said Lin Shu-yi, director of the festival. "Made in L.A.," by Spanish director Almudena Carracedo, exposes the struggle of illegal immigrants who pursue their American dream in a Californian sweatshop. Barbara Hammer's "Diving Women of Jeju-Do" highlights instead the working condition of the women on the island of Jeju, off the southern tip of the Korean peninsula. These strong women are famous for collecting shellfish at the bottom of the ocean without using diving gear, but also for the protest they led against the Japanese invaders between 1931 and 1932.
The section "Taiwan Best" comprised high quality short films produced by local directors. "Many of these filmmakers are still students or just graduated, but their storytelling skills are already mature," Lin commented. The outstanding "Dancing with 37 Arts," directed by Lee Chien-chang and Blook Tseng, follows Taiwan-born dancer Sheu Fang-yi to New York, where she was invited to join the artist-in-residence program of the Baryshnikov Arts Center. Sheu, who was the principal dancer at the Martha Graham Dance Company until she left it in 2006, was praised in U.S. media as "the finest present-day embodiment of Martha Graham's technique and tradition." During her two-month stay in the city, Sheu created a new piece titled "37 Arts."
"I wanted to share my experience with the younger generation," Sheu said Oct. 17, "So I invited the two directors to New York to witness the creation process." According to Sheu, Lee and Tseng didn't give any acting directions and filmed each scene without interruption, because they wanted to present the truth as accurately as possible. "People keep telling me that it is impossible for a dancer like me to survive in Taiwan, but I believe that as long as I am brave enough, I can prove that the word impossible is meaningless," the dancer said, "That's why we started this movie project."
"Artemisia" is another local production by director Chiang Hsiu-chiung. The movie follows Wu Ai-tsao who, like the plant that gave its name to the film, has to adapt to its environment in order to survive. A devoted mother, Wu tries to strike a balance between her conservative upbringing and her children raised in a fast-changing society. The movie was selected to close the festival.
This 15th edition of the festival focused on South Korea and introduced eight contemporary titles from this country, including documentaries, fiction and animation movies. "Korea has a social background similar to Taiwan, and it is crucial we learn from the development of their film industry, in particular films made by female directors," Lin said. Lim Soon-rye's "Forever the Moment," relates the touching story of the Korean women's handball team that unexpectedly won the silver medal in the 2004 Olympics. "3xFTM," by director Kim Il-rhan, deals with a more difficult topic. It follows three Korean female transsexuals who struggle to become men. The movie describes the lengthy and arduous "female to male" process.
"Me, Myself and I" aims to raise the public's awareness about "self-shooting." Lin explained that she was inspired by the Edison Chen's sex photo scandal of last January. Pictures the Hong Kong singer took of himself and his lovers were stolen and circulated on the Internet. While many people, since the scandal, regard "self-shooting" as nothing but exposing one's own privacy, Lin believes it could become a serious artistic form. "This kind of 'video diary' could be a way for artists to re-examine their self-images and to understand how these images are influenced by the outside world, rather than just being a straightforward disclosure of one's lives."
Paul Tschinkel's film about Cindy Sherman is a good example of "self-shooting." Sherman is an American photographer who earned her fame with "Untitled Film Stills," a series of black-and-white self-portraits that touch on the role of women in today's media-saturated era. "Be Beautiful," which Michelle Chen both directed and played in, examines instead Chen's changing attitude toward her body after she is diagnosed with breast cancer, as well as her fight to rebuild her confidence.
Despite the relatively small size of the festival, its fine selection of movies keeps drawing movie-lovers. The two opening films, "Dancing with 37 Arts" and "Forever the Moment" proved to be box-office successes, and both projections were followed by enthusiastic discussions with their directors.
Write to Amber Wu at amber0207@mail.gio.gov.tw