This prestigious Melbourne International Film Festival will kick off this week from 8 to 25 August 2024. With more than 250 films from over 62 countries, we carefully handpicked some Top 5 feature films and shorts that you shouldn’t miss at this year’s MIFF program!
Esteemed slow-cinema director Tsai Ming-Liang is back with his 10th ‘Walker’ series, this time set in Washington D.C. Part-financed by and featuring the Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art, Lee Kang-Sheng, as the monk, walks unruffled through the cityscape. This art project transforms the audience into a meditative mind and presents a new form of cinema.
“In his latest film, under the gaze of both onlookers and his preternaturally patient lens, he positions Lee as public-art performer and symbol of the Buddhist pursuit of enlightenment, slowly striving for the divine.” – MIFF
Director Tsai’s ‘Walker’ series has been ongoing since 2012, and he said during this year’s Taipei Film Festival screening that the next ‘Walker’ series is going to take place at Jeonju in South Korea.
"Speaking about his creative philosophy and reflections, Tsai Ming-Liang believes that the 'Walker' series is an experiment, aiming to explore whether the audience can accept a film as a poem or a painting constructed through space." — AGENT MOVIE.
《無所住》為蔡明亮導演「行者」系列第十部，不但在去年入圍了柏林影展「特別放映」單元，也入圍丹麥之名國際紀錄片影展CPH:DOX。《無所住》於美國華頓拍攝，以唐朝玄奘遠赴西天取經為啟發，從行者的角度出發，如同苦行僧慢行於世界各地。
「談及創作理念與反思，蔡明亮認為「行者」系列是一個實驗，想探問觀眾能否接受電影是由空間堆砌而成的一首詩、一幅畫。」 —— 電影神艘
Winner of Best Animation at the 2023 Golden Horse Awards, PIGSY is director Chiu Li-Wei’s second feature film. Reinterprets the classic tale of ‘Journey to the West’ into a futuristic world centred around Zhu Bajie (Pigsy), the film is set in an imaginatively rich sci-fi metropolis filled with exotic creatures, breathtaking cityscapes, and a surreal interplay of technology and power in a city divided into the Old World and the New World.
With a stellar of voice actors, including Greg Hsu, Liu Kuan-Ting, and Ivy Shao, the stunning production team includes Emmy Award-winning director Bruno Felix, renowned producer Tang Sheng-Rong and Golden Melody-winning producer George Chen.
導演邱立偉繼《小貓巴克里》後帶來最新力作《八戒：決戰未來》，攜手豪華配音陣容與黃金製作團隊，去年與金馬獎榮獲最佳動畫長片。國語版配音陣容由許光漢、劉冠廷、邵雨薇領銜擔綱。製作團隊集結曾獲艾美獎的導演布魯諾費利克斯（Bruno Felix）與知名製作人湯昇榮擔任監製，電影配樂由金曲製作人陳建騏精心打造。
「導演邱立偉描繪出一個賽博朋克版的全新故事《八戒：決戰未來》，並讓大家印象中笨拙的「八戒」躍升成為舞台主角，編織一場有關親情、友情的動人故事。」—— Allie Hsieh | ELLE
Co-directed by Yin You-Qiao and Chiang Wei-Liang, EP by Hou Hsiao-Hsien, received Caméra d'Or Special Mention at Cannes this year. Set against the backdrop of Taiwan's mountainous regions, the film delves into the lives of illegal migrant workers, capturing their struggles for dignity and recognition under harsh conditions. Despite being dir Chiang’s debut feature, his previous short films have already won award at Berlinale and in competition at Venice Film Festival.
“Mongrel is shot in boxy academy ratio by cinematographer Michaël Capron which affords a sense of claustrophobia in a mountainous region.” ––John Berra, SCREEN DAILY.
《白衣蒼狗》由候孝賢導演監製、台灣導演尹又巧與新加坡導演曾威量聯手執導的首部長片是今年唯一入圍坎城影展 「導演雙周」的華語影片，並一舉拿下「金攝影機 — 特別提及」。此片以台灣山區為背景，講述在台非法移工為了生存的掙扎與迷惘，於坎城影展世界首映時，不僅題材吸引評審團目光，也帶給觀眾深刻的感動。
「曾威量，出生於新加坡，畢業於臺北藝術大學電影創作研究所，曾為金馬電影學院、盧卡諾電影學院學員。作品多關注東南亞離散裔群。2016年以短片《禁止下錨》獲柏林影展奧迪最佳短片、台北電影獎最佳短片。2021年以《一抔黃土》、2022年以《庭中有奇樹》連兩年入圍金馬獎最佳紀錄短片。」—— 金馬影展
Winner of the Audience Award: U.S. Dramatic and the U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award: Ensemble at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, DÌDI offers a nostalgic look at a coming-of-age journey set against the backdrop of early 2000s culture, with the rise of technology, including Myspace and the flip phone. Dir Sean’s short film Nai Nai & Wài Pó, was also nominated in this year’s Oscar nomination for Best Short Film.
“ It (DÌDI) captures the growing pains of the teenage years with warmth and sensitivity; as Chris steps out of the comfort zone of childhood, he is stuck between the innocence of youth and the desire to experiment. Despite his faked confidence, he is a bundle of insecurities.” —— Ann Lee, THE GUARDIAN.
導演王湘聖的短片《奶奶跟外婆》不但今年入圍奧斯卡紀錄短片，他的首部劇情長片《弟弟》也在今年的日舞影展中獲得「觀眾票選獎 — 美國劇情片」和「評審團特別獎 — 最佳整體演出」。導演以個人經驗帶領觀眾回到YouTube剛興起、摺疊手機盛行的年代，講述一位13歲男孩Chris正值青春期的跌宕起伏，面對親情、友情與愛情的困擾，反映出青少少年成長過程中的內在衝突與矛盾。
「拍下影片上傳YouTube、流連MySpace聊天室，編導王湘聖一面渲染懷舊風，一面引領觀眾見證專屬他那一代青春期的成長焦慮。找來影后陳沖演出為子女犧牲夢想的媽媽，與移民家庭的難解課題直球對決。」—— 2024 亞洲日舞影展
SHAMBHALA, first Nepalese film to screen at Berlinale, post-production in Taiwan with the award-winning team from The Assassin (2015), including editor Liao Ching-Sung, sound design Tu Duu-Chih and more. SHAMBHALA tells the story of Pema, a woman in a polyandrous village in the Nepalese Himalayas, who marries into a family of three brothers and embarks on a journey of self-discovery and liberation.
“Seductive … At once a spiritual odyssey and a more concrete journey of female self-determination, this is a visually magnificent slow-burner filmed high in the Himalayas, with a quietly magnetic central performance.” – Screen Daily
「《香巴拉》由廖慶松與黃江豐擔任監製、王思靜聯合製片，電影後期在台灣進行，集結《刺客聶隱娘》金獎團隊，包括廖慶松的剪接、杜篤之的聲音、洪文凱的調光。《香巴拉》講述尼泊爾喜瑪拉雅山區多夫一妻制的村莊中，名為PEMA的女子嫁入三兄弟的家，開啟一趟發現並解放自己的旅程。」—— 姊妹淘編輯部
導演米恩·巴哈杜爾·巴姆與攝影師阿齊茲·詹巴基耶夫再次合作，引人入勝的呈現尼泊爾文化與傳統，如禪宗般寧靜的史詩劇作。
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Taiwanese Shorts in the Program
Directed by Huang Wei 黃偉, Cheng Dao-Yuan 鄭道元, is the first entry in an audiovisual series inspired by astronomical phenomena and the exploration of consciousness and existence from a philosophical perspective. INNERSTAR 01: REDDENING is screening in Fulldome Showcase 1.
Directed by Erica Sheu 徐璐, as he projects an image of burning incense through an extended 16mm loop. Fragments of family history are refracted through shards of glass and flickers of shadows, and memories of Kinmen bombs linger like incense smoke. IT FOLLOWS IT PASSES ON is screening in Experimental Shorts.
Directed by Hsieh Wen-Yee謝文毅, presents a surreal trip through a post-apocalyptic Taiwan. LIMBOTOPIA is screening in Fulldome Showcase 2.
Two Taiwanese XR works – one portraying the trap of greener pastures, the other framing the body as landscape – present novel takes on the here-and-now.
Craig Quintero’s Over the Rainbow
Ho Hsiao-Mei’s Nâ Tâu Tsí á (The Lost Limbo) | Sister Lin-Tou
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Check out the festival's full program now at https://miff.com.au
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