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Taipei Film Awards: Hou Hsiao-hsien's Spirit Lives On as "River and Stone" Wins Best Short Film

From Liberty Times · () Chinese

Translated from Chinese, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

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  • Director Huang Chih-chia won Best Short Film at the Taipei Film Awards for "Somewhere in time, River and Stone."
  • Huang, who previously worked as a script supervisor and editor on Hou Hsiao-hsien's "The Assassin," drew inspiration from nature and human emotion for her film.
  • The jury praised the film's unique perspective and balance between poetry and fantasy.

Director Huang Chih-chia's "Somewhere in time, River and Stone" clinched the Best Short Film award at the Taipei Film Awards, with Huang humorously thanking the short film funding judges for awarding her "strange script."

Thank you for giving this strange script a prize.

— Huang Chih-chiaAccepting the Best Short Film award.

Huang, who served as a script supervisor and editor on Hou Hsiao-hsien's acclaimed film "The Assassin," drew upon her extensive experience for her award-winning short. She explained the film's inspiration stemmed from the concepts of a stone and a river, evolving over two millennia to explore the limitations of time, transforming into two birds and then two people to represent human emotions, joy, anger, sorrow, and separation.

"My only simple thought every day of filming was 'I hope everyone will be happy watching this film,'" Huang shared. She expressed her fondness for the tranquility of mountains and forests, aiming to share that peace and beauty with audiences through her cinema. Huang also credited her actors, Lee Hsueh and Lin Yi-chen, for making the "strange story" believable, and extended gratitude to deities, mountain spirits, ancestors, her parents, and mentors Hou Hsiao-hsien and Lee Ping-bing.

My only simple thought every day of filming was 'I hope everyone will be happy watching this film.'

— Huang Chih-chiaExplaining her motivation for creating the film.

The jury lauded "Somewhere in time, River and Stone" for its skillful use of natural landscapes to depict emotional currents between characters. They highlighted its unique perspective, which created a playful yet mysterious cinematic language, achieving a perfect balance between poetry and fantasy. Other nominated shorts included "The Last Zombie," "Princess of the Flowers," "You Blow Do, I Blow Si," and "This Is Not My Cow."

It's because of the great actors that this strange story became believable.

— Huang Chih-chiaThanking the film's cast.
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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