Taiwan Today

Organized by Taiwanese film guru Hou Hsiao-hsien, the Golden Horse Film Academy will train young international filmmakers from Nov. 12 to 26. This is the first time the Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival has arranged an educational program of this kind. A strong list of faculty, including Taiwan’s Ang Lee, Tsai Ming-liang from Malaysia and Hirokazu Koreeda from Japan, will teach a small class of 16 protégés selected from more than 200 applicants. The academy students come from various ethnic Chinese communities around the world. Of the five students from Taiwan, two are past Golden Horse award winners: Tsai Tsung-han for Best Original Screenplay with his “Winds of September” in 2008, and Tommy Yu for Best Short Film with “How’s Life” in 2005. Sydney, Australia’s A Night of Horror International Film Festival awarded Scott Mei Best Music Video for “Torture Device” in 2008. The remaining two students are Chang Chih-fa, whose “Chain” was selected by the 2008 IndPanda film fest, and Chiu Ti-hsuan, who received her education in France. Hou, chairman of the festival and dean of the film academy, expects senior filmmakers to share their skills, passion, and experience with the younger generation through this project. Wen Tien-hsiang, festival CEO, said the idea for the academy derives from the Pusan International Film Festival’s Asian Film Academy, which Hou established. The 16 participants have begun writing screenplays, two of which will be selected by Hou in the first session as primary teaching materials. The students will then be divided into two classes, with 15 days to make 15-minute short films based on their screenplay. Props, settings, actors and budgets will all be provided by the festival. In addition to teaching the protégés, Koreeda will hold a film forum open to the public. The Golden Horse Film Festival awards ceremony will be held in Taipei County Nov. 28. (TYH-THN)