Despite the wide misconception among Americans, Hollywood does not make the majority of the world’s films – only the majority of the world’s awful films.
Today, the Taiwan 2008 Film Festival arrives on campus for three days of screening films by some of the Republic of China’s most premier moviemakers.

Past years’ festivals have introduced audiences to the progressive and emerging new schools of Taiwanese filmmaking, featuring approaches that move away from conventional archetypes and into a more modern approach.
The films selected represent the many facets of the island of Taiwan, including those that are traditional and those that buck the established global impression of the republic.
“The objectives of the Taiwanese directors is to make the audience think and not just to consume images for relaxation and entertainment,” said Lori O’Hollaren, assistant director for the Center for Asian and Pacific Studies. “They can be quite successful in creating moods and atmospheres through the use of cinematography and music.”
This year’s festival, which is touring five universities along the West Coast, features films that focus on youth and redemption. Eight films, either feature-length narrative or documentary, will be shown to serve as a window to a society of young people that is rarely seen so vividly and unfiltered outside of Taiwan.
“Professor Tze-lan Sang, department head and associate professor of East Asian Language & Literature, chose films that would be of most interest to the audiences here. These are all recently-released films made by independent filmmakers in Taiwan,” O’Hollaren said.
Several of the filmmakers will be on hand for post-screening question-and-answer, including Cheng Wen-Tang, whose film “Summer’s Tail” will play tonight at 8 p.m.
Loosely based on Cheng’s own experiences, “Summer’s Tail” chronicles the summer of four teenagers who are intent on putting off adulthood in favor of achieving their last adolescent goals.
The story revolves around Yvette, played by the director’s daughter Enno Cheng, who will also be on hand at the screening. Yvette is a popular songwriter who meets and immediate falls in love with Jimmy whom, much to Yvette’s dismay, is haplessly in love with his teacher.
Along with “Summer’s Tail,” the seven other films assert dynamically different stories of deliverance. Though no two films presented are alike, they all include strong lead characters that rise triumphantly over their personal adversities with heart and grace.
Stylistically, they are all composed with gorgeous and symphonic modern scores and cinematic techniques that break new grounds while never dismissing the influences of the Taiwanese films that have come before them.
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