In April 2009 I had the pleasure of attending the all-new Taiwan Cinefest in London. The festival, set to become an annual event, showcases new filmmaking talent from Taiwan and aims to “share and promote their work to an international audience”, according to the festival website. I was invited to participate in a panel discussion on the opening night on behalf of Jade Screen, the theme being: Taiwan Cinema: Boom or Bubble?

It was great to discuss this complex and multi-faceted subject and hear many different points of view on Taiwan’s role in the filmmaking community and particularly its relationship with other Chinese regions. I was also honoured to share the panel with Professor Chris Berry, Xiao Xiao Sun and Luke Vincent-Vulpiani. It was nice to have a broad range of speakers from different disciplines and everyone had some great points to share. The questions were guided by organiser, Steven Flynn, who kept the discussion on point and raised some interesting topics which fuelled the subject. It’s also great when the audience participate in the discussion and, particularly on a topic such as this, it’s very interesting to hear from those who posses far more knowledge on Taiwan and its global role – as a good number of attendees were from Taiwan and China.

In all, it was a diverse and well-rounded discussion which I enjoyed very much and I hope everyone else found it informative and entertaining. Later that night the panel went for dinner in Notting Hill and afterwards, we attended the UK premiere of Chung Mong Hong’s film; Parking – a poignant, character-driven drama with sumptuous visuals and real gangster flavour. Despite being a Taiwanese production, the film featured a few familiar Hong Kong faces including Chapman To who fans will remember from the Infernal Affairs trilogy and the hilarious Escape From Hong Kong Island, among others.

The Taiwan Cinefest ran from 15^th-19^th of April and screened many other great films across the capital, including the international hit Cape No 7 and even a young filmmaker’s showcase. I would like to extend my gratitude to Steven Flynn and his colleagues who put on such an exciting event.

There are many dedicated people all over the world, working very hard behind the scenes to support the industry – We as fans should be the first wave to show everyone else what the fuss is about!

By Mike Fury

For more information log onto the website at www.taiwancinefest.com