Taiwan New Cinema at Film Festivals

Revisits Taiwan New Cinema in relation to film festivals from cultural, historical, and geopolitical standpoints Look at the productive roles women have played as discursive mediators of the cultural imaginary of the nation, the auteur, and the art of slow cinema Offers accounts of the film festival's role in both commissioning and exhibiting films Examines film aesthetics influenced by directors' diasporic identities, moving across different regions and nations, such as Malaysia, France, Japan, Myanmar, and Taiwan Provides in-depth case studies on films by three Taiwan-based directors: Hou Hsiao-hsien, Tsai Ming-liang, and Midi Z/Zhao Deyin Complements the scope of and discussions on transnational cinema Taiwan New Cinema (first wave, 1982 1989; second wave, 1990 onward) has a unique history regarding film festivals, particularly in the way these films are circulated at major European film festivals. It shares a common formalist concern about cinematic modernism with its Western counterparts, departing from previous modes of filmmaking that were preoccupied with nostalgically romanticizing China's image. Through utilising in-depth case studies of films by Taiwan-based directors: Tsai Ming-liang, Zhao Deyin and Hou Hsiao-hsien, Tsai discusses how Taiwan New Cinema represents a struggling configuration of the 'nation', brought forth by Taiwan's multilayered colonial and postcolonial histories. Taiwan New Cinema at Film Festivals presents the conditions that have led to the production of a national cinema, branding the auteur, and examines shifting representations of cultural identity in the context of globalization.

Beth Tsai is Visiting Assistant Professor in East Asian Languages and Cultural Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Her research focuses primarily on the cinema of Taiwan, film festivals, and transnational film theory. She has published in the International Journal of Asia Pacific Studies, Quarterly Review of Film and Video, Journal of Asian Cinema, and Oxford Bibliographies.