Whenever I hear someone say, “They continue to give so much for each other—after all, they’re family, and blood is thicker than water,” I can’t help but think of this: In every family, there are at least two people who share no blood relation at all. So how can a phrase like “blood is thicker than water” possibly account for all the effort, pain, and complexity woven into those relationships? This exhibition presents five short films, each exploring a different kind of relationship. Some are bound by blood, while others reveal that sometimes, water runs thicker than blood. I often think of a line from The World Between Us: "In a family, people hurt each other. But they don’t heal each other." Perhaps that’s just what it means to be human—so clumsy at love, and yet so desperate for it.
Author林予晞台灣女演員，美國休士頓藝術學院（Art Institute of Houston）互動多媒體設計系畢業，曾擔任空服員。2014年出演TVBS戲劇節目《A咖的路》受到矚目而正式出道，2017年以《必勝練習生》入圍第52屆金鐘獎戲劇節目最佳女主角，曾主演《春梅》《料理高校生》《酸甜之味》《我們與惡的距離》（2019）《天堂的微笑》（2019）等電視劇。 林予晞接觸底片攝影十年有餘，曾收集超過30台相機，累積數千張私人攝影作品。2018年12月推出首場攝影個展「時區檔案」。《時差意識》是林予晞個人第一本攝影創作作品。
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.