Viva Tonal – The Dance Age

vivatonal.jpg
Originally uploaded by claireclaire.

VIVA TONAL – THE DANCE AGE
跳舞時代
Tiaowu Shidai

Directed by Chien Wei-ssu & Kuo Chen-ti
導演 簡偉斯 郭珍弟
(2003)

"I'm a cultured woman, traveling about footloose and fancy-free…” So begins a lilting tune from Taiwan's "Dance Age" of the 1920s and '30s, a paradoxical time when the island's occupation by Japan also brought youth culture and a measure of artistic freedom. Women smoked cigarettes, love scandals were rife, and risque Taiwanese pop was born. This lively historical documentary mixes engaging interviews with catchy songs, haunting period footage, and reenactments of the unrequited romance between the lovely chanteuse Sun Sun and her songwriter Chen Chun-yu.

U of Washington: Screening Schedule

Taiwan Film Festival
University of Washington
October 5 - October 8, 2006


Admission to all screenings is free.

Thursday October 5, 2006
Venue: Physics-Astronomy Auditorium A 102

5:30pm Opening Reception with Chien Wei-ssu, Lin Cheng-sheng, Sylvia Feng, Huang Yu-shan

6:00pm Introduction to Taiwanese Cinema and the Film Series
Prof. Yomi braester

6:30pm Viva Tonal—The Dance Age
Chien Wei-ssu and Sylvia Feng (producer) in person

8:45pm Ocean Fever (PA A102)
Sylvia Feng (producer) in person


Friday October 6, 2006
Venue: Physics-Astronomy Auditorium A 102

6:00pm Feminism and Sexuality in Contemporary Taiwan

8:30pm Tigerwomen Grow Wings

6:30pm Murmur of Youth
Lin Cheng-sheng in person


Saturday October 7, 2006
Venue: Physics-Astronomy Auditorium A 102

3:00pm Workshop with Chien Wei-ssu, Lin Cheng-sheng, Sylvia Feng(A 101)

4:30pm Recovering Taiwan's Lost Past
Prof. David Bachman

5:00pm The Strait Story
Huang Yu-shan in person

8:00pm Spring: The Story of Hsu Chin-yu
Sylvia Feng (producer) in person


Sunday October 8
Venue: MOHAI

5:00pm New Taiwan Cinema: Beyond the New Wave
Prof. James Tweedie

5:30pm The Human Comedy

7:45pm Love Go Go

Screening Venue:
Physics-Astronomy Auditorium
Museum of History and Industry


Download Program[PDF: 3.9MB]

Brigham Young: Screening Schedule

Taiwan Film Festival
Brigham Young University
October 3-6, 2006


Admission to all screenings is free.

Tuesday, October 3, 2006
4:00pm Lecture: Taiwan Yesterday and Today
Professor Eric Hyer, Political Science, BYU
238 HRCB

5:00pm Jump! Boys
HBLL Auditorium

6:40pm Taiwan Film Festival Opening Ceremony
HBLL Auditorium

7:00pm The Strait Story
HBLL Auditorium

8:45pm Reception
238 HRCB/Special Collections

Wednesday, October 4, 2006
4:30pm How High is the Mountain
HBLL Auditorium

5:30pm Lecture: Reunification Reconsidered
Professor Steve Riep, Chinese, BYU
with Sylvia Feng (Senior Producer of PTS, Taiwan)
HBLL Auditorium

6:30pm Secret Love for the Peach Blossom Spring
250 SWKT

8:30pm Viva Tonal—The Dance Age
250 SWKT

Thursday, October 5, 2006
4:30pm Lecture: Recovering Taiwan’s Lost Past
Professor Steve Riep, Chinese, BYU
238 HRCB

5:45pm Spring: The Story of Hsu Chin-yu
238 HRCB

7:00pm Dust in the Wind
HBLL Auditorium

Friday, October 6, 2006
5:15pm Jump! Boys
SWKT

6:45pm Pushing Hands
250 SWKT

8:45pm Dust in the Wind
250 SWKT

Screening Venues
Harold B. Lee Library Auditorium (HBLL)
250 Spencer W. Kimball Tower (SWKT)
238 Herald R. Clark Building (HRCB)
A complete, interactive campus map is available here.

Local Sponsors
David m. kennedy Center for International Studies
College of Humanities
International Cinema Program
Intercultural Outreach


Download Program[PDF: 3.8MB]

Stanford: Screening Schedule

Taiwan Film Festival
Stanford University
September 29 - October 1, 2006

Friday September 29, 2006
*Free Admission*

6:30pm Welcome
6:45pm Viva Tonal—The Dance Age
8:20pm Panel Discussion with Chien Wei-ssu, Sylvia Feng (producer)
Moderator: Jean Ma
9:15pm Love Go Go


Saturday September 30
*Free Admission*

6:30pm Introduction
6:35pm Tigerwomen Grow Wings
8:00pm Panel Discussion with Monika Treut and Lin Cheng-sheng
Moderator: Jean Ma
8:45 Murmur of Youth

Lin Cheng-sheng in person

Sunday October 1
*Admission: $5 per person*

3:00pm Introduction by Prof. Jean Ma
3:15pm Three Times

Screening Venue:
Cubberley Auditorium, Stanford University
Presented by:
Center for East Asian Studies, Stanford University
Additional Sponsors:
Film and Media Studies Program, Department of Art and Art History, Stanford University

Download Program[PDF: 3.5MB]

Note: Monika Treut has cancelled her trip.

Berkeley: Screening Schedule

Taiwan Film Festival
University of California at Berkeley
September 29 - October 1, 2006


Admission to all screenings is free. Seating is limited. Seats available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Friday September 29, 2006

3:00pm Murmur of Youth (PFA)
Lin Cheng-sheng in person

5:30pm Opening Reception w/ Monika Treut, Huang Yu-shan, and Lin Cheng sheng at the Berkeley Art Museum

7:00pm Tigerwomen Grow Wings
(BAM)
Monika Treut in person


Saturday September 30

2:30pm Secret Love for the Peach Blossom Spring (PFA)

4:00pm How High is the Mountain (PFA)

5:30pm Workshop: Film and Culture in Contemporary Taiwan

7:00pm Ocean Fever (PFA)
Sylvia Feng (producer) in person

9:00pm Love Go Go


Sunday October 1

7:30pm Viva Tonal—The Dance Age (PFA)
Chien Wei-ssu and Sylvia Feng (producer) in person

9:30pm The Strait Story (PFA)
Huang Yu-shan in person

Screening Venue:
Pacific Film Archive and Berkeley Art Museum


Download Program[PDF:4MB]


Note: Monika Treut has cancelled her trip.

Ocean Fever

oceanfever.jpg
Originally uploaded by claireclaire.

OCEAN FEVER
海洋熱
Haiyang Re

Directed by Chen Lung-nan
導演 陳龍男
(2004)

This verite portrait of young rock ‘n rollers was an audience favorite at the 2004 Taipei Film Festival. Aboriginal Taiwanese director Chen Lung-nan takes a fly-on-the-wall approach to chronicling the experience of five fledgling bands including a raucous rapmetal combo called Stone and the punkish girl trio Hotpink in the heady days before they perform at the Ho-Hai-Yan Rock Festival, a massive beachside talent contest for aspiring pop acts. In classic “rockumentary” fashion, the film captures the hopes and dreams (not to mention the personal doubts and unexpected setbacks) of the competing bands while offering an affectionate look at contemporary youth culture in Taiwan.

Beyond the New Wave

The 2006 Taiwan Film Festival, to be held at Berkeley, Stanford, Brigham Young, and the University of Washington in September-October 2006, will showcase eight feature and documentary films that reflect the quality, range, and vitality of contemporary Taiwanese film-making.

Taiwanese film has moved far beyond the formulaic melodramas, teen romance, and kung-fu films of the 1950s and 1960s as well as the breakthrough “New Wave” of the 1980s. New Wave masters like Hou Hsiao-hsien and Edward Yang made Taiwanese cinema world-famous, with their realist, non-narrative films focused on exploring Taiwanese history and telling the stories of ordinary people.

Since the New Wave, Taiwanese cinema has evolved in many directions: refreshing new takes on Taiwan’s buried past (Viva Tonal – The Dance Age, The Strait Story) and Taiwan’s conflicted relationship with the Mainland (Secret Love for the Peach Blossom Spring, How High is the Mountain?), a new focus on women, gender issues, and sexuality (Murmur of Youth, Tigerwomen Grow Wings), and exuberant celebrations of youth and popular culture (Love Go Go, Ocean Fever). More than ever, Taiwanese filmmaking today shows a wide range of styles, subject matter, and mood.

Something altogether new is the explosion of high-quality documentary films. Fuelled by ongoing debates over Taiwanese identity as well as the spread of inexpensive digital cameras and editing software, documentary films in Taiwan have soured in number and in popularity. They have also been winning critical acclaim both at home and abroad.

Nonetheless – and far more so than feature films – even the best of these documentaries are rarely screened and little known in the U.S. This festival aims to fill this gap, presenting the best in recent documentary films paired with feature films that explore similar themes. The series will also feature the latest work by the renowned German filmmaker Monica Treut, an engaging portrait of three women in modern Taiwan (including filmmaker DJ Chen).

2006 Taiwan Film Festival

The 2006 Taiwan Film Festival, to be held in four universities in late September and early October 2006, will showcase prominent both feature films and the work of Taiwan’s newest and most promising documentary filmmakers: Chen Lung-nan, Chien Wei-ssu, Juang Yi-Tseng, Kuo Chen-ti, Lin Yu-Hsien, Tang Shiang-Chu, and Yen Lan-Chuan.

A surprisingly of the important works of Taiwan feature filmmakers depicting the changes of Taiwan have rarely been screened in the US. Films such as Hou Hisao-Hsian’s coming-of-age trilogy present the realities of life and the beautiful scenery of Taiwan country side while “Pushing Hand” (Ang Lee) depict the conflicts and bafflement between generations coming from different cultural traditions. More recent works such as “The Straits Story” show an artist’s pursue of love, art and life in the 1920s while “The Passage” captures unrequited love and fascination with ancient art and its history.

While Taiwan feature filmmaking may have languished in recent years, documentary filmmaking has exploded. In a context of growing democratization, new debates over Taiwanese identity, and the spread of inexpensive digital cameras and editing software, documentary films in Taiwan have soured in number and in popularity. They have also been winning critical acclaim both domestically and abroad.

Nonetheless – and far more so compared to feature films -- Taiwanese documentary films are rarely screened and little known in the U.S. This series aims to fill this gap, presenting the best in recent documentary filmmaking in Taiwan. The series will also feature the latest work by the renowned German filmmaker Monica Treut, an engaging portrait of three women in modern Taiwan (including filmmaker DJ Chen).

The goal of this film festival is to showcase prominent Taiwanese film works. Program on each campus will include four double-feature screenings, pairing one feature film with one documentary film, showing a total of eight films. The documentaries and features for each screening will be selected to compliment each other in depicting a specific time period or to offer parallel windows onto a specific aspect of Taiwan society, history, politics, or culture. Altogether, the film festival will serve to introduce the ever-changing faces of Taiwan.