Three co-productions between creatives in Taiwan and around the world are making waves at the Berlin International Film Festival, demonstrating the breadth and depth of the country’s cinematic talent pool.
According to the Taiwan Creative Content Agency, both “Black Tea” and “Shambhala” are in competition for the Golden Bear, while “Sleep With Your Eyes Open” is being run in the festival’s category for independent works that push structural and aesthetic norms.
“Black Tea,” directed by Abderrahmane Sissako, recounts the transcultural love story of an Ivorian woman and a tea house owner. The movie was filmed in Taiwan and was a collaboration between France, Ivory Coast, Luxembourg, Mauritania and Taiwan.
In “Shambhala,” produced in cooperation with Nepal, Taiwan, Turkey and the U.S., a pregnant woman in the Himalayas on a quest to find her missing husband undertakes a mental journey to discover and liberate herself. “Sleep With Your Eyes Open” features actor Wang Shin-hong from Taiwan and additionally brings together crew members from Argentina, Brazil and Germany.
All three films received assistance from TAICCA’s international cooperative investment projects, which spotlight Taiwan’s film professionals to raise the industry’s global profile.
According to the TAICCA, a Taiwan pavilion at the European Film Market, underway in Berlin at the same time as BIFF, will boost international cooperation between Taiwan’s film industry and its counterparts around the world. (POC-E)
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