The 8th Taiwan Film Festival in Australia

Opening Night film: Daughter’s Daughter

• The long-awaited sophomore feature from Huang Xi (Missing Johnny, 2017), Daughter’s Daughter is a masterfully restrained portrait of generational wounds, maternal regret, and the fragile search for redemption. Co-produced by Taiwanese cinema icons Hou Hsiao-Hsien and Sylvia Chang, with legendary editor Ching-Song Liao (Flowers of Shanghai, 1998) and evocative cinematography by Yao Hung-I (Long Day’s Journey into Night, 2018).

Starstruck section

• The Chronicles of Libidoists, by the award-winning director Yang Ya-Che (The Bold, the Corrupt, and the Beautiful, 2017) brings together a remarkable cast – Wu Kang-Ren (Abang Adik, 2023), Liu Chu-Ping (Bad Education, 2022), and Alisia Liang (Who’ll Stop the Rain, 2023) – to craft a sensuous and poetic exploration of lust, eroticism, and forbidden desire, moving from superficial restraint to emotional unravelling.

• Unexpected Courage. Celebrated commercial director Yu makes a remarkable leap to narrative filmmaking with his first feature, drawing inspiration from personal experience and a prolific career directing music videos for icons such as Mayday, Will Pan, and Cyndi Wang. Backed by Mayday frontman Ashin and Golden Horse-winning producer Yeh Ju-Feng, Yu brings his signature visual sensibility and emotional nuance to the big screen.

• Organ Child. Box office success director Chieh Hsueh Bin (Do You Love Me as I Love You, 2020) returns with a searing tonal shift in Organ Child – an uncompromising revenge thriller that lays bare the wounds of grief, injustice, and moral ambiguity.

• Worth the Wait. Set against the vibrant backdrop of Seattle and Kuala Lumpur, this romantic comedy brings together a stellar ensemble of Asian American talent – including Karena Lam (American Girl, 2021), Sung Kang (Fast & Furious), Ross Butler (Shazam! Fury of the Gods, 2023), Andrew Koji (Bullet Train, 2022), Elodie Yung (Daredevil, 2015) and more. 

Documentary and First Nations section 

• Dancing Home. A poignant and soul-stirring ode to cultural reclamation and artistic resilience, Dancing Home charts the remarkable journey of legendary Paiwan choreographer Bulareyaung Pagarlava. At the height of his global career – with credits that include the Martha Graham Dance Company (USA) and Cloud Gate 2 (Taiwan).

Cinephile must-see

• Flowers of Shanghai (4K restoration). Hou Hsiao-Hsien’s masterful period drama Flowers of Shanghai adapts The Sing-song Girls of Shanghai, a 19th-century Wu-language novel by Han Bangqing, later famously translated into Mandarin by literary icon Eileen Chang. Featuring a luminous cast at the height of their powers – including Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Michiko Hada, Michelle Reis, and Carina Lau – the film is a hypnotic, time-bending experience.

• Yen and Ai-Lee. Praised by jurors at the Busan International Film Festival, Yen and Ai-Lee marks the poignant return of director Tom Lin Shu-yu to themes of love, loss, and emotional healing, following Zinnia Flower (2015) and The Garden of Evening Mists (2019). This deeply personal project also marks Lin’s first feature-length collaboration with his wife, actress Kimi Hsia.

Check out the full program now: https://www.taiwanfilmfestival.org.au/