Sundance Film Festival Asia Returns to Taipei

Sundance Film Festival Asia is back in Taipei and local talent is on full display. We were there on Wednesday night for their short film competition.

Transcript

00:00Rolling out the red carpet for the unsung heroes of TV and film.

00:12The sound directors, designers and photographers behind hits like Game of Thrones, Thor, The

00:17Dark World and The Joker are all gathered here in Taipei for the Sundance Film Festival

00:23Asia.

00:24Ladies and gentlemen, let's welcome Kim Yatani, Heidi Wicker.

00:29Sundance is the largest independent film festival in the world.

00:33And this year, it's holding its Asia event in Taiwan for the second time.

00:37There's so much talent here.

00:39There's obviously a great film school system here, which is really cool and exciting to

00:43see.

00:44And they're just so engaged.

00:46And the conversations I see them have with our visiting filmmakers, they're really inspiring

00:51to us.

00:52We want to be a little bit of everything.

00:54There's a place for every kind of filmmaker's work at our festival.

00:58And that's what we really want people to know.

01:01The festival intends to foster exchanges between filmmakers in Taiwan and the international

01:05community.

01:07It also provides a vulnerable opportunity to discover and nurture Taiwanese talent.

01:13I think one thing as a talent agent that we're always looking for is people who are unique,

01:18people who are authentic, and artists who kind of speak to something that feels new

01:25and different.

01:27That talent was on full display at the short film competition, with a shortlist containing

01:32six movies by Taiwanese filmmakers.

01:34The winner is Suo Jiang, Lin Qianyu.

01:40Among them was 32-year-old Lin Qianyu, whose film Suo Jiang, about a locksmith, won the

01:45prestigious Best Short Film award.

02:03The judges say that every shortlisted film was intriguing and had its own unique voice.

02:08But that's what Jiang stood out from the rest.

02:11I really love how she plays with the genres.

02:15She combines, I would say, realism and fantasy, and also psychological thrillers together

02:21in a very vague and organic way.

02:24I really love the way that she does the soundings and also editing everything.

02:30It's just interesting and organic, I would say.

02:33The short film portion of the event is finished, but Sundance is just getting started.

02:39As this festival short film competition comes to an end, the event shifts to higher gear

02:44with an expanded lineup of screenings, intensive panels, and also insightful workshops.

02:50We love being here to learn about filmmakers, but also for filmmakers to learn about us.

02:54And that's like the best version of this festival experience.

02:58And with event organizers bringing Sundance back to Taiwan, it's clear they see the country

03:02and its filmmaking talent as a crucial part of that best version.

03:07Chris Ma, Patrick Chen, Yushen Lai, and Sandy Chee for Taiwan Plus.