1998
Taiwan International Documentary Festival (TI
國際競賽單元提名
國際競賽單元提名
Hou Hsiao-hsien, the visionary director who brought Taiwan New Cinema to the global stage, is known for his contemplative long takes and a visual language uniquely his own. “Darkness,” he once said, “comes from reality and absurdity.” Rejecting artifice, Hou captures the everyday with piercing honesty, rendering moments we all can relate to—whether it’s childhood sweethearts struggling in the city, disillusioned gangsters drifting through life, or a lone assassin bound by fate. Join Giloo in refocusing on the present, and see the island through Hou Hsiao-hsien’s lens: a poetic realism shaped by his profound love for this land.
Tien-Wen Chu, the eldest of the Chu sisters, is not only one of Taiwan’s most important contemporary novelists, but also the longtime screenwriter for acclaimed director Hsiao-hsien Hou. She has penned scripts for 15 of Hou’s films, and has won the Golden Horse Award for Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Original Screenplay three times. Giloo Documentary presents five Hou Hsiao-hsien films written by Chu T’ien-wen, inviting you to step into the cinematic worlds they’ve so delicately crafted—their very best of times.
On August 28, 1982, Time Story premiered, marking the beginning of the Taiwan New Cinema Movement. In the summer of 2022, HIDE & SEEK AUDIOVISUAL ART released The Time Ahead: A Memo to 40 Years of Taiwan New Cinema, revisiting this pivotal era through 20 key concepts. In the fall, the Taiwan Film and Audiovisual Institute will present a special retrospective titled When New Cinema Begins Again: 40 Years of Taiwan New Cinema, uncovering many long-overlooked gems hidden in the corners of film history. Between summer and fall, TFAI and HIDE & SEEK AUDIOVISUAL ART join forces to present 16 titles—films both representative of Taiwan New Cinema and those reflecting on the movement itself—inviting audiences to engage with its legacy and imagine the decades of cinema still to come.
Cinema is made by people—and film history has been forever shaped by them. Giloo presents a selection of seven documentaries on legendary filmmakers, tracing the evolution of cinema through their lives and visions.
Through the power of storytelling, directors shape films— and in return, those films leave indelible marks on their creative souls. Giloo invites you to step inside and outside the frame, visiting the lives of master filmmakers both behind and beyond the camera. See Hou Hsiao-hsien’s quiet charm when he sets down the director’s baton, hear David Lynch reflect on the hidden corners of his past, and witness Agnès Varda’s final farewell—infused with childlike wonder and grace. These films reveal the true faces of iconic auteurs— their artistic journeys, their obsessions, their passions, and yes, a touch of beautiful madness.
"Through synchronicity, the subjective and objective worlds intertwine, allowing the psyche and the material to resonate." When we imagine the contours of things, the camera begins to speak. It casts light and sound, strikes chords of language, and imprints memory upon the screen. Five films. Five creators. Five echoes of synchronicity from the depths of their souls. Let us rise from the seats of spectatorship and, with the heart of art as our vessel, journey toward the distant shore—where beauty and the numinous await.