The Swiss Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival (NIFFF), dedicated to fantastic movies, will open its 20th edition from July 2nd to 10th and will spotlight Taiwanese content with FORMOSA FANTASTICA. The Taiwan Creative Content Agency (TAICCA) co-organizes a series of four online roundtables with NIFFF to discuss innovation and diversity in the fantasy genre and Taiwanese cultural content for audiences around the globe.
“Taiwanese works are often included in the NIFFF lineup each year, and with FORMOSA FANTASTICA, it shows that Taiwanese genre films have stood out at international film festivals,” stated TAICCA CEO LEE Ming-Che. “We are delighted to see how NIFFF highlights the strengths and unique qualities of Taiwanese content, which reflects in the diverse productions selected in the lineup this year.”
Taiwanese genre filmmaking has been revitalized in the past few years, producing excellent works that have garnered attention in international film festivals. A total of 16 productions will be featured in FORMOSA FANTASTICA showcasing the landscape of Taiwanese genre films from feature films, to animated shorts, series, and immersive content.
In the Feature Films category, As We Like It (揭大歡喜), Get the Hell Out (逃出立法院), My Missing Valentine (消失的情人節), The Scoundrels (狂徒), and The Tag-Along (紅衣小女孩) will transcend the audience into the worlds of zombie comedy, sci-fi romance, dystopia, and more. For Animations Shorts, The Weather Is Lovely (多雲時情), Wander in the Dark (缺乏名字的場所), Daisy (雛菊), As Usual (一如往常), Long Land (長島), Where Am I Going? (當一個人) bring Taiwan’s rich culture to life.
The popular nostalgia phantasmagoria, The Magician on the Skywalk (天橋上的魔術師) episodes one and two, is also included. Immersive content installations include A Song Within Us (Oil 邊境), An Ode to Moss (蘚的歌唱), Samsara (輪迴), and Great Hoax: The Moon Landing (星際大騙局之登月計劃).
The four roundtables (July 3rd to 8th) co-organized by TAICCA and NIFFF will dive into Taiwan’s genre filmmaking (“The Landscape of Genre Cinema in Taiwan") and emphasize Taiwan’s advantages in future content development and journey of fantastic storytelling (“Immersive Storytelling: The Buzzing Hub of Taiwan,” “Showcasing SAUVAGE EXTENDED: Part 1, Taiwanese XR at NIFFF,” and “Literature of the Imaginary in Taiwan”).
The roundtables will be moderated by Taiwan cinema specialist Wafa GHERMANI and Visual Switzerland CEO Laetitia BOCHUD. Speakers include renowned content creators John HSU (徐漢強), HUANG Hsin-Chien (黃心健), SU Bo-Wei (蘇柏維) and as well as notable film critic Ryan CHENG (鄭秉泓), Golden Horse Fantastic Film Festival Programmer Therese YANG (楊晴絮), Kaohsiung Film Festival programmer and producer Grace LEE (李懷瑾), and founder and producer of Serendipity Films Estela VALDIVIESO CHEN (陳斯婷).
For the “Literature of the Imaginary in Taiwan” roundtable, two major figures in Taiwan’s fantasy literature - WU Ming-Yi (吳明益) and CHI Ta-Wei (紀大偉) - will be talking about their works, magical realism, and science fiction. The series of roundtables will take place in Neuchâtel and Taipei simultaneously with live streaming.
Please visit the NIFFF official site for the live stream of the FORMOSA FANTASTICA Conferences co-organized by TAICCA and NIFFF:
The Landscape of Genre Cinema in Taiwan (臺灣類型電影風貌)
- Date: July 3rd (SAT) 20:00-21:00
- Speakers: KO Yi-sen 柯俋森（Producer, GET THE HELL OUT ), John HSU 徐漢強（Director, DETENTION), Ryan CHENG 鄭秉泓（Journalist, Film Critic), Therese YANG 楊晴絮（Programmer, Golden Horse Fantastic Film Festival)
- Moderator：Wafa GHERMANI 倪娃法（Specialist, Taiwanese cinema）
Immersive Storytelling: The Buzzing Hub of Taiwan (沉浸式敘事：臺灣作為一個豐沛創作基地)
- Date：July 5th (MON) 16:00-17:00
- Speakers： Estela VALDIVIESO CHEN 陳斯婷（Producer/Founder, Serendipity Films), Grace LEE 李懷瑾（Programmer and producer, Kaohsiung Film Festival), Aurélien Dirler 敖瀚林（Advisor, TAICCA）
- Moderator：Laetitia BOCHUD (CEO, Visual Switzerland)
Showcasing SAUVAGE EXTENDED: Part 1, Taiwanese XR at NIFFF (SAUVAGE展覽之延伸座談一：臺灣沉浸式內容作品)
- Date：July 5th (MON) 17:30-18:30
- Speakers：François KLEIN (Producer, A SONG WITHIN US), HUANG Hsin-Chien (Director, SAMSARA EP. 1)、SU Bo-Wei 蘇柏維 (Director, AN ODE TO MOSS), John HSU 徐漢強 (Director, GREAT HOAX: THE MOON LANDING)
- Moderator：Laetitia BOCHUD (CEO, Visual Switzerland)
Literature of the Imaginary in Taiwan (臺灣奇幻文學)
- Date：July 8th (THUR) 20:00-21:00
- Speakers：WU Ming-Yi 吳明益 (Author of THE MAN WITH THE COMPOUND EYES, THE MAGICIAN ON THE SKYWALK), CHI Ta-Wei 紀大偉 (Author of THE MEMBRANES, PERELS)
- Moderator： Gwennaël GRAFFIC 關首奇 (Translator, editor, and specialist in Taiwanese literature)
- NIFFF Official Website：https://www.nifff.ch/en/
- FORMOSA FANTASTICA：https://www.nifff.ch/en/?section=Formosa-Fantastica
- NIFFF Conferences：https://www.nifff.ch/en/?type=conference
2021 Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival