2023 Taiwan International Human Rights Film Festival (TIHRFF) titled “Gone with the War (煙硝離散—游尋天光),” curated by National Award for Arts winner Huang Ming-chuan (黃明川), commenced with Ukrainian director Alisa Kovalenko’s “We Will Not Fade Away.” Presented by the National Human Rights Museum, the 7th edition of TIHRFF focuses on the issues of war, technology, and migration.
2023 TIHRFF was inaugurated at the Spot Huashan Cinema on Sept. 22. Deputy Culture Minister Sue Wang (王時思), National Human Rights Museum Director Hung Shih-fang (洪世芳), Curator Huang Ming-chuan, Senior Advisor to the President Yao Chia-wen (姚嘉文), Ukrainian film director Alisa Kovalenko, and other guests were invited to join the opening ceremony.
In her opening speech, Deputy Culture Minister Wang said, this year’s TIHRFF is grounded on a realistic background – the Russian invasion of Ukraine. She added, the Ministry of Culture always emphasizes that human rights’ universality can only shine through each individual’s respect and action, which is why they hope more people will visit the film festival, get inspired, and then spread more stories about human rights.
Curator Huang explained, through carefully selected 20 short and feature-length films from 14 countries, TIHRFF welcomes people of all ages. Films such as “We Will Not Fade Away” and “Dounia & the Princess of Aleppo (魔籽公主)” are able to provide different perspectives for youngsters and further increase people’s awareness about issues of war.
2023 TIHRFF is available now in the format of Main Screenings (Taipei Screenings from Sept. 22 to Sept. 24; Kaohsiung Screenings from Sept. 29 to Oct. 1), Online Film Festival (Oct. 3 to Oct. 17), and Collaborative Screenings (Oct. 20 to Oct. 29). For more information, please visit the 2023 TIHRFF website and the official Facebook page.