The 22nd edition of the San Diego Asian Film Festival (SDAFF) will kick off from October 28 to November 6, 2021, showcasing more than 130 films from over 20 countries in 30 different languages. The Taiwan Academy of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Los Angeles has collaborated with SDAFF to present the “Taiwan Film Showcase” for the 10th consecutive year. This year, the “Taiwan Film Showcase” will present 5 features and 1 short at the UltraStar Mission Valley (7510 Hazard Center Dr #100, San Diego, CA 92108) with an outdoor Taiwan reception held on November 1, 2021. All are welcome to explore Taiwanese cinema!
The line-up of “Taiwan Film Showcase” includes Listen Before You Sing, a Taiwanese musical drama that champions its indigenous people and their way of life; The Moon Represents My Heart, a documentary about the journey to Taiwan by the Taiwanese Argentinian film director, who sought to clarify the truth behind the death of his father through his mother. The online Q&A discussion with the director Juan Martin Hsu will follow the film screening. As We Like It, a romantic comedy adapted from Shakespeare's play; Days Before the Millennium, a story about the marital status of female Taiwanese new immigrants; Execution in Autumn, the winner of 5 Golden Horse Awards in 1972 for Best Feature Film, Best Director, Best Leading Actor, Best Supporting Actress, and Best Color Cinematography; and Girl in the Water, an animation short that depicts how a woman nurses the wounds of heartbreak. Besides Taiwan Film Showcase, there will be 6 additional Taiwanese short films playing at SDAFF, including the new Tsai Ming-liang film The Night, Night Bus, Reliving the Past by Sea, Paik-lak e-poo, Off (I don’t know when to stop), and Swingin’.
Founded in 2000 by the Pacific Arts Movement, SDAFF has grown to be the largest exhibition of Asian cinema in the western United States and has showcased films from around the world to give audiences unique opportunities to discover international cinema. This year, with the return to in-person programming, the festival reflects on a “post-pandemic world” and reinvigorates a sense of community that is much needed after a year of isolation, social unrest, and anti-Asian racism and xenophobia. For more screening and ticketing information about the “Taiwan Film Showcase,” please visit https://sdaff.org/2021/home/film-guides/.