Sundance Film Festival Asia Announces Short Film Competition Finalists and Panels Lineup, guest speakers including Justin Lin, Dan Lin, and more.
As the inaugural Sundance Film Festival Asia draws closer, excitement is building for the film enthusiasts and industry professionals who will gather in Taipei from August 18 to 20. Today, the Festival has unveiled the highly anticipated finalists for the Short Film Competition and an impressive lineup of exclusive panels featuring renowned guest speakers, including Justin Lin and Dan Lin. Tickets for the film screenings and panels are now available for purchase at www.SundanceFFAsia.com.
The 2023 Sundance Film Festival Asia Short Film Competition has garnered significant attention, attracting over 250 entries from talented filmmakers. After careful consideration, the judging team, consisting of Sundance Film Festival programmers Kim Yutani, Heidi Zwicker, and Mike Plante, along with special guest jurors Anita Gou (Producer – The Farewell, Honey Boy) and Wen Tien-Hsiang (CEO, Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival), has chosen nine finalists to compete for the prestigious Jury Award for Best Short Film presented by Barco.
The selected artists and their projects are as follows:
- Afterlife – Directed by Sheng-Chun Huang and Lo-Yi Hsueh
- Ant Hotel – Directed by Yu-Hsuan Teng
- Are We Good? – Directed by Annie Hsu
- Burning – Directed by Hao Tang
- Is This Now The Time I Should Let You Go? – Directed by Yi-Chin Tsai
- The Rubbings of Trajectories – Directed by Cheng-Hsu Chung
- The Train of Memories – Directed by Chih-Ming Chen
- Tuo Tuo – Directed by An Chu
- Unexpected Passenger – Directed by Jui-Chien Hsia
The winner of the Jury Award will be announced during the Festival’s Opening Reception on August 18. Following this, the Short Film Competition Finalists will be featured in a special Short Film Program at the SPOT Huashan Cinema during August 19-20. It is worth noting that previous short film winners from other Sundance festivals have gone on to achieve international acclaim, being showcased at prestigious film festivals worldwide.
In addition to the film screenings, the Sundance Film Festival Asia will host exclusive panel discussions at the Huashan Creative Park and SYNTREND venues. These panels will provide unique insights into the film industry and creative processes, with the opportunity to engage with notable figures in the field.
One of the panels, “Meet the Sundance Programmers,” will feature Sundance Film Festival Director of Programming Kim Yutani and Senior Programmer Heidi Zwicker, who will reveal how Sundance programmers select films and interact with industry professionals and artists. Moderated by Mary Sadeghy, Head of Partnerships at Sundance Institute, this panel will take place on August 19 at 1:30 PM at 2/F, SPOT Huashan Cinema.
On the following day, August 20, at 1:00 PM at SPOT Huashan Cinema, film enthusiasts will have the opportunity to attend “Meet the Sundance Film Festival Asia Filmmakers,” where they can hear from celebrated filmmakers Justin Chon (Jamojaya) and Rachel Lambert (Sometimes I Think About Dying). The filmmakers will share their creative processes and offer candid advice to aspiring filmmakers. The panel will be moderated by Heidi Zwicker, Senior Programmer at the Sundance Film Festival.
The Sundance Film Festival Asia also presents two Master Panels supported by The New Media Entertainment Association (NMEA). The first panel, “Creating the Look of Your Movie – From the Movie Set to the Cinema,” will feature special speaker Joachim Zell, Head of HDR Content Workflow at Barco. Attendees will gain insights into creating a Hollywood-style cinema look, including using ACES (Academy Color Encoding System) and maintaining consistency from on-set monitoring to final screenings. This panel will occur on August 19 at 2:00 PM at SYNTREND 12/F.
In the same venue, attendees can join the second Master Panel, titled “How to Make It Work? The Relationship between Director and Producer.” This panel will feature special guest speakers Todd Makurath and George Huang and will be moderated by Tiffany Chen. The discussion will delve into the director/producer relationship dynamics in various settings and offer valuable insights for indie and blockbuster productions.
Lastly, on August 20 at 1:30 PM at SYNTREND 12/F, attendees can look forward to a Fireside Chat with acclaimed Director Justin Lin, moderated by Janet Hsieh. Justin Lin’s journey from an indie breakout to a blockbuster director, including his success with “The Fast and the Furious” franchise, will be the focus of this engaging session.
For those eager to attend the film screenings and panel discussions, tickets can be purchased on the official festival website, www.SundanceFFAsia.com.
The 2023 Sundance Film Festival Asia is co-organized by G2Go Entertainment and the Sundance Institute in partnership with TAICCA and Taipei City and supported by the Taiwan Women’s Film Association. The Festival’s success is also attributed to its sponsors, including Cathay Financial Holdings, and partners such as SPOT Huashan Cinema, Kavalan, Regent Hotel Taipei, Barco, and the State of Utah.
The first Sundance Film Festival Asia promises to be an inspiring and enriching experience for all film enthusiasts and professionals attending the event in Taipei.
