Event organizers say this year’s event will showcase nine diverse Taiwanese films as well as films from emerging film directors. These new films recognize the link between Taiwan and the world through humanity, culture and social diversity.

Director Hou Chi-Jan will meet with audience for a question and answer session after his feature film “Ode to Time”. The folk song band, JAGA, is also performing after the screening. Two of his short films “Green Island Serenade” and “The Rose Boy” are also playing at Vancouver Taiwanese Film Festival this year.

The event is co-presented by UBC Literature Etc. and Taiwanese Canadian Cultural Society.

Ode to Time

Legendary musicians from the Taiwanese folk-rock scene of the 1970s reunite after 40 years for a big concert. The documentary Ode to Time captures the past and current lives of the musicians, combining social and political themes like the China-Taiwan relationship and the influence of American culture.

My Egg Boy

A 32-year-old single woman who is longing for love, believes that love can be preserved by freezing time just like frozen food. A spark ignites when she meets a restaurant owner who believes in fresh only and fresh first when it comes to his ingredients.

Hang in There, Kids! (Loka Laqi!)

Three innocent, optimistic, and naughty boys grow up in a secluded Taiwanese indigenous tribe in the rural mountains. In an after-school class the boys discover their disabled teacher’s musical audition tape and bravely decided to bring the tape to the capital city, Taipei.

Formosa Betrayed

This film is inspired by actual events. In the early 1980s, an FBI Agent who is assigned to investigate the murder of a respected professor, unearths a web of international secrets that has been thriving within college campuses across America for decades. After travelling to Taiwan, he learns that the Professor's death was a desperate move by a scandalous government intent on keeping its nefarious activities under wraps.

White Lies, Black Lies

In the basement of the Rainbow Salon, the shop owner's wife lies in the basement has her windpipe cut. The shop owner rushes her to the hospital and then flees. A reporter following the case finds that the shop owner has fled the city with his first love. The reporter also uncovers an unsolved murder from the past seemingly connected to the case.

Betelnut Girls

With the financial pressure of raising a son independently and supporting her gambling-addicted father, a single mom makes her living as a betelnut beauty at night. She meets a police officer and develops an intimate relationship with him. Meanwhile, the conflict of their social status and challenges of social discrimination invades their relationship.

The Tag-Along

Based on true events and an age-old Taiwanese urban legend, "Moo-Sin-A". Wei suddenly goes missing just one day before his grandma returns from her own strange disappearance. Wei's girlfriend, Yi-Chun desperately searches for his whereabouts and discovers that it is the horrifying mystery of the little girl in red that has followed and haunted them all along.

52HZ, I love You

This musical film, directed by Director Te-Sheng Wei, incorporates a series of romantic stories with 17 original songs. Set in modern Taipei City, Taiwan, on Valentine's Day, the title is inspired by the 52-hertz whale, dubbed the world's loneliest whale. His story reflects the loneliness that might be felt by those who are looking for love in the city.

 For more information, please visit our website  www.twff.ca