Taiwan Helps Filmmakers Explore Diversity, Cinema Boundaries: Cannes

Diversity, both in content and in terms of the characters explored, appears to be the driving force behind a number of Taiwan-backed productions spread out across this year’s Cannes Film Festival program.

For producer Lynn Chen, who has come to the festival with the drama Mongrel, screening in this year’s Directors’ Fortnight lineup, Cannes is an opportunity to share a “unique and compelling cinematic experience.”

This first feature from the Taiwan-based Singaporean filmmaker Chiang Wei Liang explores the lives of undocumented workers, in this case one (played by Thailand’s Wanlop Rungkumjad) who cares for the disabled while eking out a living in the mountain regions of the island.

“Mongrel offers a fresh perspective on storytelling, blending drama and cultural exploration elements against the backdrop of stunning landscapes in Taiwan,” says Chen, who represents Taiwan’s Le Petit Jardin production house. “The film delves into themes of identity, belonging and the human condition.” 

Mongrel, a Taiwan-France co-production recently picked up for sales by the Paris-based Alpha Violet, is one of four films that have made it to Cannes thanks in part to the support of the Taiwan Creative Content Agency (TAICCA) and its Taiwan International Co-Funding Program (TICP), which offers financial backing for projects.

Joining Mongrel is the Konstantin Bojanov-directed illicit-love-fueled thriller The Shameless (Un Certain Regard), which follows a woman (Anasuya Sengupta) who, after killing a police officer in a brothel in Delhi, escapes to a Northern Indian community for sex workers and strikes up a relationship with a 17-year-old girl. 

Also at Cannes is Cambodian fest favorite Rithy Panh’s look at life under the Khmer Rouge, Rendez-vous avec Pol Pot (Cannes Premiere), and the KEFF-directed romance Locust, which is screening as part of Cannes Critics’ Week and is set amid the backdrop of the 2019 Hong Kong protests. It follows a 20-something man who works in his family’s restaurant by day, but at night is involved in a criminal enterprise. Both productions were supported by TICP.

This year, the TAICCA initiative also supported three immersive titles featured as part of Cannes XR — the France-Taiwan co-production Colored, Traversing the Mist (Taiwan) and Missing Pictures: Naomi Kawase (France, U.K., Taiwan, Luxembourg, South Korea) — as well as the Elvis A-Liang Lu-directed documentary The Song From Within (Cannes Docs), which looks at the lives of two gender-fluid Indigenous Taiwanese people. 

TAICCA’s impact at Cannes goes beyond the world of film. It is also one of the official partners for Spotlight Asia, Impact Lab and Shoot the Book initiatives. There are four Taiwanese projects in the latter program, which highlights books that are strong contenders to be adapted for the screen: Second Lead, Trials of Humanity, Haunted House Realtor and Mystery of Remains. 

Through its first partnership with the Civil Society of French-Language Publishers in Cannes, TAICCA said it hopes to “raise awareness about Taiwan’s rich and diverse literary landscape to producers worldwide, forging connections across continents and cultures for further partnerships over audiovisual adaptations.”

Launched in January, TICP 2.0, meanwhile, provides investments from Taiwan’s National Development Fund that cover up to 49 percent of the total budget “with no limit, aiming to aggregate an increased volume of Taiwanese content for global audiences and foster collaboration opportunities between Taiwan and the international community,” according to TAICCA.

TAICCA chairperson Homme Tsai says the co-funding program was designed to highlight Taiwan’s industry on the international stage, and notes it has leeway to invest more heavily depending on the project.

“TICP 2.0 increases investment based on market potential and broadens the diversity of projects,” says Tsai. “It provides funding and resources to facilitate partnerships between Taiwanese content creators, technical teams and their counterparts in other countries. By doing so, TAICCA empowers Taiwanese content and talent to thrive in the global market.”

Chen says in addition to financial support for Mongrel, TAICCA offered networking opportunities to connect the film’s producers with industry talent, and also aided in promotion and distribution, both domestically and internationally. 

“Taiwan has a lot of government resources,” says Chen, who cites getting help from both local and central governments. “Along the way, we have received considerable help and encouragement. When you want to complete a good film, it feels like the entire Taiwan is helping you.”

TAICCA has also been helping Taiwanese filmmakers push the boundaries of cinema, in particular with its support of the island’s ever-growing immersive film community through the likes of its Innovative Content Grant for International Co-Funding or Co-Productions program.

One project aided by this program was Traversing the Mist, which bills itself as a “virtual odyssey of a gay bathhouse” with participants embodying a Taiwanese man’s avatar. It’s a free-roaming VR piece, allowing participants to physically walk around a virtual space.

“It urges you to question your feelings toward how reality should be understood,” explains director Chou Tung-Yen. “You suddenly wonder, ‘Am I truly here?’ and ‘How should I interact and co-exist with the avatars?’ Secondly, the subject of a gay bathhouse — it feels like you are invited to a space that is seldom discussed and that people normally have no access to.”

The 25-minute experience allows audiences to feel as though they are living the story, working as their own director, cinematographer and star. It’s all part of a project that may elicit very different responses from each audience member.

“You might feel amazed, scared or uneasy. You might feel distress and loneliness from endlessly searching for what it means to be human,” says Tung-Yen.

The production is part of Cannes’ first-ever Immersive Competition, and Taiwan’s three entries follow TAICCA initiatives such as annual Taiwan x France XR Days. Leading voices of the industry such as Olivier Fontenay (who works at the CNC, the French government agency aimed at promoting film and TV in the country), Martin Honzik (chief curatorial officer of Ars Electronica Linz) and Michele Ziegler (director of NewImages Festival) have been invited to town to advise Taiwanese emerging XR filmmakers.

“When I think of Taiwan’s cinema, I think of diversity, freedom and merging,” says Chou. “There are exciting international co-productions and vigorous developments in both 2D traditional films and XR experiences.” Chou cites the France-Taiwan co-production Colored, which is in this year’s immersive projects lineup, as a harbinger of more international co-productions to come in this space. 

In addition to its locales, financial incentives and production capacities, insiders with experience shooting in Taiwan also give credit to creators’ ambitions to be a player internationally in the world of film. Says Chen: “Our directors and screenwriters continue to explore various themes, from personal stories to social issues. Even though our market is not large, we are looking toward the international stage.”