Whisper of Reality(HKAFF2023)

This selection attempts to re-examine how the idea of “the personal is political” was realised through documentaries from 1990s onward, when female filmmakers in Taiwan started to tell their stories through “personal cinema”. These works contemplate on the idea of body, desire, emotion and family, unveiling various types of restraints imposed on women by the society. Avoiding Vision explores and displays people's contempt towards their own bodies due to societal beauty norms, questioning the values of aesthetics. Hard Good Life 2 intimately traces the final years of a father's life, offering a simple yet powerful father-daughter portrait. The River illustrates the physical and emotional pain of pregnancy through images of flowing water and the female body.

1. Avoiding Vision
Kite Chen / 2010
Language: Mandarin, Others(In Parts)(Chinese Subtitles)
Category: IIA
Duration: 34 Mins

2. Hard Good Life 2
Hsu Hui-ju / 2008
Language: Mandarin, Taiwanese(English Subtitles)
Category: I
Duration: 75 Mins

3. The River
Hsu Ya-ting, Geoffrey Hughes / 2016
Language: No Dialogue(No Subtitles)
Category: IIA
Duration: 13 Mins