It all started as a joke: “Will people say this is too Taiwanese?” After all, we’re the ones always afraid of being boring or too slow— and yet here we are, gritting our teeth and programming a lineup of gloriously slow cinema. But some stories can’t be skipped. Some lessons, no matter how painful, you just have to get through. Taiwan’s inner angst is like a deep bruise beneath the skin—long-settled and hard to press out. Sometimes, you just need a hot young masseur to work it loose. Whether you end up loving, hating, or feeling nothing at all about Taiwan, we invite you to revisit its joy, rage, sorrow, and everything in between. This film festival is like a sketchy pair of hands passing you crib notes under the table—an attempt to loosen what refuses to unclench, to summarize the unsummarizable.
帝國大學臺灣文學部，歡樂的以低級內容（宣稱）將臺灣文學帶出學院、面向大眾的podcast節目。成員包括馬祖天后兼京都小美人魚亦，和身分多元的科幻混血王子霖。明明身在臺灣文學研究所，卻對於臺灣國／民族與文學的關係充滿困惑。
Taiwan has long since become the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage, and LGBTQ+ lives seem to be increasingly woven into everyday life. Yet, when we turn our gaze to Asia’s mainstream media and cinema, where are the stories of lesbian women? The love left unspoken, the relationships that defy definition, and the intimacies that blur the line between friendship and romance—are they still hidden beyond the frame? And when lesbian women do appear on screen, how often are their stories truly told from their own perspectives? This time, through a collection of films, we summon those who have always been there, yet have rarely been seen. “I summon you by this name. Reveal yourself.”
The Taiwan Film Festival of Boston is dedicated to showcasing Taiwan’s diverse cultures and social landscapes through cinema while fostering meaningful exchange between Taiwanese filmmakers and North American audiences. Since 2011, the New Taipei City Documentary Film Award has supported documentary filmmaking and encouraged creators to engage with their times, capturing lived experiences and social realities through the moving image. Together, the two organizations present this virtual film festival, featuring outstanding works from past editions of the Taiwan Film Festival of Boston and the New Taipei City Documentary Film Award. By bringing Taiwanese stories of ecology, culture, identity, and coming of age beyond geographical boundaries, this collaboration invites audiences around the world to discover Taiwan through the lens of documentary filmmaking and engage in cross-cultural dialogue. Through the power of documentary cinema, the festival seeks to foster greater cross-cultural understanding, celebrate the creativity and vitality of Taiwan’s documentary tradition, and strengthen connections between New Taipei City, Taiwanese filmmakers, and international film communities. New Taipei City Documentary Award Section Title | Habitats of Life Envisioning a Sustainable Future Where People and the Environment Thrive Together From oceans and forests to where Indigenous communities and cities meet, life seeks ways to survive, grow, and belong. Where the Bees Belong, Hearing from the Dolphin, The Elimination, A Tayal, and Childhood In Between explore ecological conservation, wildlife conditions, cultural heritage, and identity, revealing complex relationships between people, nature, and society. As habitats shift and generations change, each story shows how life responds to environmental and social challenges while seeking new possibilities for coexistence. Echoing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), this program invites audiences to reconsider habitat not only as a physical place, but also as an ecological, cultural, and emotional home—and to imagine a more diverse, inclusive, and sustainable future. The online screenings held in collaboration with the New Taipei City Documentary Film Awards concluded successfully on October 11. Some films have been taken offline as scheduled. We invite you to continue enjoying the other outstanding films available on the platform!
“Lu-se” (魯蛇, Taiwanese internet slang borrowed from the English word “loser”) seems to have become a dead word. You rarely hear anyone say it anymore, and I’m not sure why. I don’t think the term can be understood simply as the English “loser.” In the way it’s used in Taiwan, it seems to carry a touch of self-deprecating humor, and that’s a quality I really love. The films above are the ones that, to me, have that feeling.
