Taiwan productions to be featured at Busan International Film Festival

Taipei, Sept. 23 (CNA) Several Taiwanese productions and actors will be in the spotlight at the upcoming Busan International Film Festival (BIFF), the Ministry of Culture and the Taiwan Creative Content Agency said Monday, naming some of the films that have been shortlisted.

Among them, the movie "Yen and Ai-lee" by director Lin Shu-yu (林書宇) has been nominated for the Jiesok Award at the BIFF, which will be held Oct. 2-11 in South Korea.

Meanwhile, "I Am the Secret In Your Heart" by director Lai Meng-jie (賴孟傑) and "The Uniform" by director Chuang Ching-shen (莊景燊) will be featured in the Special Program In Focus section at the festival.

"Mongrel" by Taiwanese director Yin You-qiao (尹又巧) and Singaporean Chiang Wei Liang (曾威量), as well as "Pierce," starring Taiwanese actors Tsao Yu-ning (曹佑寧) and Liu Hsiu-fu (劉修甫), will be screened in the festival's A Window on Asian Cinema section.

Several Taiwanese TV series will also be competing with international productions for the top prizes at the Asia Contents Awards & Global OTT Awards on Oct. 6, which are part of the BIFF.

"Imperfect Us," released by Taiwan Public Service Television Foundation (PTS), has snagged five nominations.

Its Taiwanese stars Ariel Lin (林依晨) and Kai Ko (柯震東) have been nominated for Best Female Lead Actor and Best Male Supporting Actor, respectively.

The film has also gained nominations for Best Asian Contents, Best Writer, and Best Original Song, by Tanya Chua (蔡健雅).

In other categories, GG Precinct star Hsu Kuang-han (許光漢) has been nominated for Best Lead Male Actor, along with Golden Horse winner Wu Kang-ren (吳慷仁), who has been nominated for his role in the film "Living."

Other Taiwanese nominees are Moon Lee (李沐) and Tseng Ching-hua (曾敬驊), from "The Victims' Game: Season 2," who are in the running for Best Supporting Female Actor and Best Male Newcomer Actor, respectively.

Speaking at a press conference Monday, Cultural Minister Li Yuan (李遠) said his predecessors had laid a solid foundation for the development of the Taiwanese film industry.

In particular, he paid tribute to former Cultural Minister Lee Yung-te (李永得), who is now CNA chairman, saying that through Lee's efforts, the Cabinet's National Development Fund can be funneled directly to eligible productions.

Li said that his top priority is to secure NT$10 billion (US$312 million) from the National Development Fund to help nurture Taiwan's filmmaking industry.

Homme Tsai (蔡嘉駿), head of the Taiwan Creative Content Agency, which provided funding for the shortlisted productions, said his agency will do its best to promote actors internationally, thus boosting the international profile of Taiwanese films.