The Women Make Waves International Film Festival from Taiwan is set to debut at the Forum des Images in Paris, celebrating the 30th anniversary of this pioneering Asian women's film festival and showcasing Taiwan's diversity. The festival will run from Sept. 19 to Oct. 8, showcasing 30 feature films, documentaries, short films, and a retrospective film dedicated to the late Director Hu Tai-li (胡台麗).
The curator of the Forum des Images, Zeynep Jouvenaux, mentioned in an interview with Central News Agency (CNA) that these 30 films cover a wide range of topics, including ethnicity, women's issues, politics, and various social dynamics, all related to Taiwan's diverse, autonomous, and coexisting identities. The festival also showcases the experiences of Southeast Asian migrant workers and immigrants.
Through a video interview with CNA, the founder of the Festival Huang Yu-shan (黃玉珊) explained that the film lineup for the Festival is not determined by a single curator but is the result of deliberations within a selection committee. The selected directors then can pick their own films that will be screened as part of the festival's program. This approach ensures a diverse range of films that span generations and highlights the blending of various cultural aspects of life in Taiwan.
Huang mentioned that their goal is to introduce Taiwanese women's cinema to the French audience from different perspectives and they hope to arouse the audience's interest with their film selections.
On Sept. 19, the festival will kick off with the screening of the opening film "GAGA (哈勇家)" at the Forum des Images. Director Huang, consultant Cheang Shu Lea (鄭淑麗), along with Taiwanese female filmmakers, will join filmmakers from various countries for post-screening discussions. There will also be two forums that bring together filmmakers and scholars from both Taiwan and France to delve into topics related to feminism, feminist critiques, and film production.