Taiwan Film Festival

Speaker: http://2008tff.blogspot.com OCTOBER 17, FRIDAY 8:00 pm - SECRET (2007, 102 min.) This feature film about young love and the power of music, is songwriter Jay Chou's directorial debut. On his first day at Tamkang secondary school, Lun is lured by a mysterious piano solo. He follows the song and finds an ethereal girl playing piano in the old music room. The girl is Yu, one of Lun's classmates. "What's the melody you played the first day we met?" asks Lun. "That's my secret." Yu whispers in his ear. OCTOBER 18, SATURDAY 2:00 pm - ELEPHANT BOY AND ROBOGIRL (2006, 48 min.) Q&A with director Lin Yu-Hsien after screening; Moderated by Melissa Brown, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Stanford University This documentary follows two 8-year old children: Xiang Xiang who is mute and has a cleft palate, and Shan Shan who has cerebal palsy. Interviews with family members and social workers explore the impact of disability on families and the social response in Taiwan. Though both children struggle with their physical challenges, they continue to exude enthusiasm and determination. 3:30 pm - FOR MORE SUN (2006, 96 min.) Q&A with director Lee Jong-Wang after screening; Discussant Larry Leifer, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Stanford University Moderated by Eric Yu, CDDRL, Stanford University This documentary portrays young engineers with creativity and determination to build the fastest running hand-made vehicle. Professor Cheng and his students believe that any knowledge you learn in school should be applied to reality. In 2005 they create FORMOSUN III, a world-class solar car for the World Solar Challenge in Australia, a 3,000 kilometer journey going from Darwin to Adelaide. Efficiency, coordination and extreme sunlight are keys to winning. The documentary raises the larger question of how to nurture creativity in a rigorous engineering program and in an educational culture that has emphasized book-learning over all else. 8:00 pm THE MOST DISTANT COURSE (2007, 110 min.) Introduction by Jean Ma, Assistant Professor of Art and Art History, Stanford University Q&A with director Lin Jing-Jie, facilitated by Jean Ma. This feature film explores the ambivalence and psychological journeys of young adults. Semingly lost in life, sound recordist Xiao Tang embarks on a road trip around Taiwan to capture the Sounds of Formosa. Meanwhile, intense and unpredictable psychiatrist Cai gets up one day and just keeps driving. The two meet in a bizarre encounter and become unlikely travel companions on their island circuit. Xiao Tang sends his recordings to ex-girlfriend, but the tapes end up in the hands of the apartment's new tenant, Ruo-Yun, a young woman who is nursing a troubled relationship of her own. Lured by the peaceful recordings of wind, waves, and aboriginal songs, Yun takes to the road to follow the source of the sounds.