8 Taiwanese productions to participate in Chicago film festival

Taipei, March 9 (CNA) Eight Taiwanese movies will be presented at this year's Asian Pop-Up Cinema (APUC) festival taking place in the U.S. city of Chicago from March 20 to April 13, with director John Hsu's (徐漢強) supernatural comedy Dead Talents Society (鬼才之道) selected as the event's opening film.

The Taiwanese films include five that premiered in 2024: "Yen & Ai-Lee" (小雁與吳愛麗), "The Uniform (夜校女生)," "Hunter Brothers" (獵人兄弟), "Doubles Match" (乒乓男孩), and "Dead Talents Society."

The 2023 film "Old Fox" (老狐狸) will be presented for the event's Oscars Submissions Showcase. In addition, the Taiwanese classic "Growing Up" (小畢的故事) from 1983 and "My Favorite Season" (最想念的季節) from 1985 will also be screened during the festival.

After Hong Kong's nine entries, Taiwan's eight-film lineup is the second largest among 17 participating countries and regions at the festival.

Yen & Ai-Lee and The Uniform are among the eight shortlisted productions vying for the first-ever Grand Jury Feature Film Award at the festival.

According to the festival's website, Hsu and Dead Talents Society's leading actor, Chen Bo-lin (陳柏霖), will appear on the event's opening night and participate in a post-screening question-and-answer session. Chen is also set to receive the APUC's Bright Star Award.

Meanwhile, Yen & Ai-Lee's director and writer Tom Lin (林書宇) and lead actress Kimi Hsia (夏于喬) are scheduled to introduce the film and participate in a Q&A after its screening on April 6th.

The Uniform's director Chuang Ching-Shen (莊景燊), producer Tang Tsai-Yang (唐在揚), and lead actress Chen Yan-fei (陳姸霏) will appear to discuss the film and take part in a post-screening Q&A on April 12th.

The festival is dedicated to showing works from regions throughout Asia, with this year's lineup comprising 50 films from around the world, according to the APUC's page.