New Taipei honors top 10 local documentaries

2014-10-02

The 10 best locally-produced documentaries were recognized Sept. 30 at the New Taipei City Documentary Awards, underscoring municipal efforts to promote the genre and encourage new talent.

“Documentaries are an effective way to offer insight and vision on social issues,” New Taipei Mayor Eric Chu said. “We have pulled out all the stops to boost growth in  documentary production since the awards were established four years ago.

“We are extremely proud of the achievements and hard work of these excellent filmmakers. New Taipei will continue to help industry veterans and new talent fulfill their enormous potential.”

First place went to “Calcium Carbide, Explosions and Fishing” directed by Chou Wen-chin for its vivid depiction of a fishing technique used in the city’s Jinshan District that has almost become a lost art. Second went to “The Silent Teacher” by Chen Chih-han, which successfully captures the meaning and value of human life through the silence of corpses used by medical students in anatomy classes.

“Faded Blossoms, Spring Soil” by Singing Chen claimed third. The film shows the unique dancing style of renowned Taiwan choreographer Lin Lee-chen, founder of Legend Lin Dance Theatre.

The seven remaining winners included “A Long Journey Home” by Gong Wan-hsiang, about a young man’s decision to settle in his hometown after working abroad; “My Dream Ethics Class” by Lu Jou-hsuan, which deals with a teacher’s unconventional end-of-term assignment that challenges the students to step out of their comfort zone; and “Self Introduction” by Chang Ming-yu, concerning a college student’s efforts to cope with Tourette’s syndrome.

The winners were selected from 71 entries. The directors of the top three films received an award and prize money of NT$100,000 (US$3,333), NT$80,000 and NT$50,000, respectively, while the other seven finalists were presented with award certificates.

All 10 movies were screened for public viewing Sept. 28 at the city’s Fuzhong 15 Documentary Cinema. They will be shown on the public channel on cable TV across New Taipei from early December to September 2015.

Source: Taiwan Today (http://taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xItem=222297&CtNode=413)