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Film critic slams Taoyuan Film Festival lineup as 'worst ever,' blames mayor

From Liberty Times · () Chinese

Translated from Chinese, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Context piece
  • A prominent Taiwanese film critic has heavily criticized the 2026 Taoyuan Film Festival's program, calling it the "worst lineup in Taiwanese film festival history."
  • The critic alleges a significant decline in the festival's quality since Mayor Chang San-cheng took office, citing issues with curation and execution.
  • Specific criticisms include a poorly designed main visual, a weak selection of films, and administrative errors, such as misidentifying directors' photos.

The 2026 Taoyuan Film Festival has become embroiled in controversy following its opening last Friday, with a leading Taiwanese film critic delivering a scathing assessment. Ryan Cheng (pen name: Ryan), a renowned critic and festival curator, took to social media on Monday to denounce the current festival's program, labeling it the "worst and most broken lineup in Taiwanese film festival history."

The worst and most broken lineup in Taiwanese film festival history.

— Ryan ChengCheng's harsh assessment of the 2026 Taoyuan Film Festival's program.

Cheng directly criticized Taoyuan Mayor Chang San-cheng, asserting that the festival's quality has been in steady decline since Chang assumed office. He argued that the festival's current iteration suffers from fundamental flaws in both its conceptualization and execution, deeming it "rotten to the core." Cheng contrasted the Taoyuan festival unfavorably with the Taipei Film Festival, which faced criticism earlier in the year, suggesting Taoyuan has been "too lucky" to avoid similar scrutiny until now.

Rotten to the core.

— Ryan ChengCheng's description of the festival's overall quality and execution.

Beyond the film selection, Cheng highlighted significant administrative blunders. He pointed to the erroneous use of Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami's photograph for Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan, an error that reportedly persisted for days before correction. This, along with a perceived lack of effort in the main visual design and a "severely impoverished" film structure, has drawn widespread criticism from the film industry.

An insult rather than a tribute.

— Ryan ChengCheng's criticism of the limited selection of films for the 'Focus Director' section.

Cheng's detailed critique also noted that out of the 60 films programmed, with 22 claimed as premieres, only seven non-domestic films qualified as true Taiwanese premieres after excluding those already available on streaming platforms. He also criticized the "Focus Director" section, citing the inclusion of only two feature films for director Shunji Iwai as "insulting rather than a tribute." Furthermore, he recalled that the 2025 festival screened Hou Hsiao-hsien's "Three Times" in DVD quality, an act he condemned as disrespectful to the filmmakers.

Screening a DVD is simply unforgivable and a desecration of the master.

— Ryan ChengCheng's strong disapproval of the festival using DVD quality for a film screening.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Liberty Times in Chinese. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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