The 19th edition of the South Taiwan Film Festival (南方影展) officially opens tonight with the Taiwan premiere of Sub-Zero Wind by South Korean director Kim Yu-ri. The film, about the the troubled coming of age of two young women, won a DGK — Directors Guild of Korea — Award at the Busan International Film Festival last year and the International Jury Prize at the Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinema in February. Sub-Zero Wind will be shown at 7:30pm and then again at 10:20pm on Tuesday. Tonight’s screening will be followed by a discussion with Kim. This year, the festival’s Panorama (南方觀摩嚴選) section will feature Call Her Ganda by PJ Raval, Krabi, 2562 by Ben Rivers and Anocha Suwichakornpong, Violence Voyager by Ujicha, And Your Bird Can Sing by Sho Miyake, The Murders of Oiso by Takuya Misawa and Road to Film (擦一擦你那滿腹經綸的道貌岸然) by Chan Ming Zhi Liao (蟬鳴知了). Meanwhile, nearly 50 films will be competing for the South Award (南方獎) — the festival’s top honor — among other prizes. Umbrella Diaries: The First Umbrella (傘上: 遍地開花), last year’s documentary by James Leong (梁思眾) on the origins of the 2014 “Umbrella movement” in Hong Kong, will be the festival’s closing film. It will screen at 7pm on Nov. 17, followed by a discussion with Shu Kei (舒琪), one of the executive producers. The festival will end with a screening of the winner of the South Award at 8pm next Sunday. Throughout the 10-day festival, there will also be special screenings of additional works. The majority of films are subtitled in both English and Chinese. All films will be screened at Shin Kong Cinemas Tainan. For the full schedule and more details, visit: festival.south.org.tw
■ Shin Kong Cinemas Tainan (台南新光影城), 658 Simen Rd Sec 1, Tainan City (台南市西門路一段658號), tel: (06) 303-1260.
■ Until Nov. 17
Photo courtesy of the South Taiwan Film Festival
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