Taipei, June 22 (CNA) The 25th edition of the Taipei Film Festival kicked off Thursday evening with the premiere of writer-director Giddens Ko’s (九把刀) new romantic comedy, “Miss Shampoo.”
Speaking to reporters, Ko said he was excited that his latest film, an adaptation of his 2010 novel “Precisely Out of Control,” would premiere at the Taipei Zhongshan Hall, where he made his directorial debut in 2011 with “You Are the apple of my eye.”
“Miss Shampoo” tells a romantic story between an aspiring hairdresser apprentice played by actress Vivian Sung (宋芸樺) and a passionate gang leader played by Hung Yu-hung (洪瑜鴻), who is best known for participating of Taiwanese hip hop. team, Nine One One.
Another film premiering in Taiwan at the film festival, which runs until July 8, is “One Second Ahead, One Second Behind,” a Japanese adaptation of Golden Horse Best Feature winner “My Missing Valentine.”
According to organizers, the film’s director Nobuhiro Yamashita and star Masaki Okada will attend the premiere on Friday night and interact with fans of the film after the screening.
As part of the festival’s “Filmmaker in Focus” program, five films by German writer-director Angela Schanelec will be screened, including “I Was at Home, But…”, which won the Silver Bear for Best Director at the Berlin International Film Festival . Festival in 2019.
In addition, four films directed by Belgian director Bas Devos will also be shown during the festival in the same program, including “Ghost Tropic” and “Hellhole”.
The two-week festival will be followed by the Taipei Awards ceremony held on the evening of July 8, when the Grand Prize, with a trophy and prize money of NT$1 million (US$32,325), will be awarded to a film nominated by Taiwan. for best feature, best documentary, best film or best animation.
Director Lin Chun-yang’s (林君陽) film inspired by the 2003 SARS outbreak in Taiwan, “Eye of the Storm,” leads this year’s awards with 13 nominations, including best feature, best director and best screenplay.
Other films up for best feature include last year’s Golden Horse Best Feature winner “Coo-Coo 043,” as well as “Gaga,” “The Abandoned” and “Bad Education.”
Lin, known for his TV series “Wave Makers” and “The World Between Us,” will also compete for best director with director Tsai Tsung-Lung (蔡崇隆) and Laha Mebow (陳潔瑤), who won best directed in 2022. Golden Horse Awards for “Gaga,” among others.
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