The Presentation of "Touching Taichung" organized by the Government Information Bureau of the Taichung City Government opened yesterday (5th) at the Zhongshan Film and Television Space. Attendees included the Deputy Director General of the Bureau, Chen Chia-Chun as well as production teams of six films including "Eating at Fengjia," "Back to 17" and "Donghai Academy" and animation films of "Good Shoes Concerto," "Mazu's Journey in Taichung" and "Let's Go, A Go." Additionally, a premier, a seminar and static exhibitions were organized to introduce film production of Taichung's touching local stories to the audience.
At yesterday's opening ceremony, the Government Information Bureau especially invited members of production teams to share their thoughts and opened the floor for questions. Good response from the audience was elicited and the six production teams praised the hospitality of the residents in Taichung. It is hoped that through this exhibition, residents in Taichung can get to know the efforts made by the teams over the past year. More local image workers are welcome to join the production teams of film and television.
Deputy Director General Chen said Mayor Lu Shiow-Yen focuses on the development of the film and television industry. Historically, Taichung has been the home of early development of the Taiwanese film industry. Taichung hosted the Taiwan International Documentary Biennale and the Taichung International Animation Festival.
In order to continue promoting the film and television industry and to leave good image memories of Taichung, the Bureau last year began the "Great Taichung Documentaries Program" and the "Taichung Animation Production Program" to invite the participation of elite teams to produce their works in Taichung by discovering local stories and making short animation films. In the future, the Bureau will continuously promote relevant programs to gradually encourage the creation of local images and to let citizens in Taichung see different sides of Taichung.
Director of the animation film, "Mazu's Journey in Taichung," Su Chun-Hsu, said when outlining the story contents, he was thinking of how to present hospitality and local features of Taichung. He found the Dajia Mazu Pilgrimage as one of the most unique local cultures. Thus, he was inspired by Mazu and decided to tell his story of good life in Taichung during Mazu's journey to battle against evil.
Director of the "Good Shoes Concerto," Yao Chiang, got his idea when seeing visitors taking off their shoes on the wooden trail of the Gaomei Wetland. Through the shoes of travelers, he presented comfort to tour to Taichung. In "Let's Go, A Go," a fantastic journey started when an owner and a dog were playing fetch. In the film, landscapes of Taichung are shown in diverse and unique manners.
The producer of "Donghai Academy," Hsu Yuan-Chien, said that when she studied in Taichung, she was inspired by the Taiwan International Documentary Biennale. She would like to thank the Bureau for continuing the core spirit of the Taiwan International Documentary Biennale to allow her team to take part in the documentary program of Taichung. Her team produced "Donghai Academy" that documents a unique settlement in Taichung over the history of three decades.
"Back to 17" documents female alumni of Taichung Girls' High School who now either work or stay at home as housewives. Before the school's centennial celebration, 358 alumni in 57 terms consist of an "Honor Instrument Celebration Team" of 358 members. From organization to practice to final presentation, it took the team 21 months and that was a history of passion, tears and laughter.
Director Lin Pei-Lin was also one of the performers in the Group and during the seminar, she shared various stories about her members. She especially would like to thank Mayor Lu and the Bureau for sharing the information on "Young Taichung" fanpage on Facebook to let more people watch "Back to 17."
Furthermore, "Eating at Fengjia" was filmed at the largest night market area in Central Taiwan. Director Yang Yi based the film on his life experiences while living in nearby Fengjia since his childhood. He selected three vendors to describe their business development processes to show authentic stories of persistence behind the bustling night market.
The "Result Presentation of Great Taichung Documentaries Program and Taichung Animation Program-Touching Taichung" is now exhibited until October 12th at Taichung's first arts film space "Zhongshan 73 Film and Television Space." Admission is free and valuable postcards of limited edition are given away. Theme film presentation will be presented from 17:00 to 18:20 on September 19th, September 26th, October 9th and October 10th. Tickets for free admission are now available upon request. Everyone is welcome.