2009Kaohsiung Film Festival / 2009高雄電影節
2009Kaohsiung Film Festival
◎English text by Hsin-Yi Peng
◎Photos courtesy of Chia-Tse Kao, Kaohsiung Film Archive
The Kaohsiung Film Festival was launched in 2001. Now in its ninth year, Mr. Wun-tang Jheng has been the festival's chairman for the past five years. He believes Kaohsiung's Film Festival has distinguishable characteristics, allowing it to stand out from other film festivals. One of these characteristics is to present themes that the local people can identify with. It also attempts to secure as many films as possible to be premiered at the festival. The chairman hopes the film festival will continue to offer a very diverse content for its audiences and increasingly draw movie enthusiasts to Southern Taiwan. These festivals clearly exemplify Kaohsiung's energy and unique direction it is now embarking on.
This year's film festival mascot was Fire Ball Man. Fire Ball Man was created as a true movie hero and once again has greatly assisted in making the Kaohsiung Film Festival a great success. It is clear Southern Taiwan has a large base of movie fans. This year's film festival theme was "Hero/ Antihero". The theme was designed to illustrate that although there is no super hero who would be able to save the world, there are many ordinary people whose everyday struggles have produced truly heart-warming stories. Although their experiences may seem rather passive and unassuming; however we are able to see they too are ultimately heroes. These types of characters are known as antiheroes. Antiheroes usually bring forth simple messages such as, "the future is only as good as you are willing to fight for".
The large selection of featured films included a number of Japanese, European and American productions. Japanese films embrace a wide spectrum of movie genres and are always well-received with Taiwanese audiences. These movies illustrate how movie professionals work, their different methods of artistic expression and various techniques. This year's festival also included more Korean and Indian movies in its Asian show case, broadening the audience's Asian film perspective.
One significant change that has occurred over the last few years is the purchasing of tickets for Film Festival screenings. However, this has not affected the attendance, which has significantly increased over the years. The festival's movie selections have also become more diverse. The result has been an increase in local popularity and movie buffs that come from out of town.
※Kaohsiung Film Archive
Alongside hosting the Film Festival, the Kaohsiung City Government has also created bursaries and subsidies for production crews that film in Kaohsiung and contribute to the city's image. The Kaohsiung Film Archive is located on the banks of the Love River and operates as a movie theater for the local people. It hosts "movie-related" activities year round and boasts an extensive collection of books and films. The Film Archive is open from Tuesday to Sunday and all are welcomed to come and utilize this audio-visual library.
For a little over three years, Kaohsiung Film Archive has been sponsoring a variety of campaigns such as the popular "Images of Kaohsiung" photography exhibit. There have also been a number of movies produced with the sponsorship of the Kaohsiung Film Archive and special screenings at the Kaohsiung Film Festivals which included such films as "Sumimasen, Love", and "No Puedo Vivir Sin Ti". "No Puedo Vivir Sin Ti" went on to be nominated in several categories at the Golden Horse Awards, including "Best Film". The Kaohsiung Film Archive website has put out a list of 100 recommended sites to film in Kaohsiung and provides video digital 3-D imaging, so film makers can get a good perspective of these locations without having to physically go out to see them, hence saving them hours of precious production time. The Filmmaking Assistance Center was established in June and has already received rave reviews. The assistance center is another example of the city government's commitment to the movie industry. The center provides assistance in preproduction, shooting locations, communications, coordination, postproduction, marketing and promotion. It is truly a consolidation of film production support. Film crews can also use meeting rooms and other spaces at the center for production meetings, film editing, storage, and audition purposes.
Kaohsiung City Government also provides qualified applicants with subsidies for accommodation for cast and crews when filming in Kaohsiung. The city goverment will also sponsor half the price for the tickets when these movies are screened in Kaohsiung. The city also grants a 10 million NT dollar award if over a 1/4 of the content is filmed in Kaohsiung and subsequently wins an award at one of the six major international film festivals. Kaohsiung has spared no efforts in creating a favorable environment for movie professionals. Kaohsiung hopes its beautiful mountains, ocean, rivers and ports will be featured in numerous films and presented to movie fans all over the world.
2009高雄電影節
◎文／凌卓民
◎照片提供／高嘉澤．電影圖書館
繼2008年高雄電影節票房熱賣，2009高雄電影節火球人再發功，化身為各色影癡耳熟能詳的英雄造型，電影節票房亮眼，足見南台灣的觀影潛力不容小覷。
※符合多元期待 高雄電影節受肯定
高雄電影節從2001年舉辦至今已是第九屆，五度擔任電影節主席的鄭文堂導演表示，高雄電影節跳脫其他影展的模式，希望可藉由電影節策展帶入更多元的觀影內涵，培養南台灣更多觀影人口。高雄逐漸走出屬於自己的方向，呈現這個城市與市民的充沛活力。
今年主題為「英雄vs.反英雄」，是想傳遞在現實生活中，拯救世界的完美超人並不存在，卻存在許多小人物與困境搏鬥的感人故事，這些平常可能是消極被動的人物，卻同時具有英雄氣質，這類電影常被稱為「反英雄」電影，但卻有著共同的目標「為美好未來而戰」。
鄭導演表示高雄電影節努力建立起對於在地的認同感或地方風格的展現。此外，許多影片都是台灣首映，這也是策展時的重點工作。
※走出屬於高雄的影展路
高雄電影節的選片在歐、美電影之外，日本電影占了很大的比例，除了台灣觀眾對日片接受度高外，另一個原因是日本電影產業發達，不但提供觀眾不同於院線片的觀影經驗，相關從業人員，也可從中觀摩他人的電影藝術技巧。今年更引入韓國、印度等其他亞洲片單，讓觀眾有不同亞洲視野。
這幾年另一個明顯改變是，電影節漸漸改變高雄人的消費習慣，觀眾願意掏錢買票看影展。另外，高雄電影節年輕與沒有包袱，也是一大優勢。歷經九屆高雄電影節的洗禮，片單越來越多元，逐年增加的觀影人口更證明民眾對電影節的肯定，而除了本地觀眾外，近年更是不乏外地來的「影癡」，因為有許多首映片單出了高雄就看不到了！
※軟硬體升級 全方位政策協助劇組拍片
除了舉辦電影節之外，高雄市政府對於影像保存與影劇前來高雄拍片取景，更是不遺餘力。位於愛河畔的電影圖書館，以「國民戲院」的概念來經營，全年延續電影相關活動，而且館內藏書、影片豐富，在星期二至星期日開館時間內，提供民眾借閱視聽服務。
電影圖書館這三年來，舉辦「高雄城市映象」拍攝案，協助多部影片在高雄開拍，並在高雄電影節另立單元放映，像是「對不起，我愛你」、「不能沒有你」都備受矚目，其中，「不能沒有你」更獲得今年金馬獎最佳影片等八項入圍。此外，高雄拍片網選取了100個景點，方便各地影視業者透過360度的環拍鏡頭，從網路勘景縮短拍片時程；而今年６月成立的「拍片支援中心」更是大受好評，市府落實單一窗口拍片服務，自前期協助找場景、聯繫協調，至後期行銷等作業。拍片支援中心內還備有會議、剪輯、儲藏、試鏡等空間提供劇組使用。
此外，只要通過申請，市府補助在高雄市拍片期間的住宿費用，以及在高雄上映時的半價電影票。若影片在高雄取景超過四分之一，並得到國際六大影展正式獎項，市府還祭出一千萬獎勵金，全方位的政策、專業人員協助讓劇組在高雄拍片沒有後顧之憂，讓全世界的影迷透過電影，看見高雄美麗的山、海、河、港。
陳菊市長(左)和高雄電影節主席鄭文堂(右)出席高雄電影節的開幕典禮，鄭主席表示，高雄電影節建立起對於在地的認同感與地方風格的展現。
Mayor Chu Chen(left) and Wun-Tang Jheng (right), the movie festival's chairman, attended the opening ceremony of Kaohsiung Film Festival. Mr. Jheng believes that Kaohsiung's Film Festival has distinguishable characteristics, allowing it to stand out from other film festivals.
高雄電影節的票房較去年成長30%
One significant change that has occurred over the last few years is the purchasing of tickets for Film Festival screenings which increased by 30% over last year.
國內許多導演參與高雄電影節映後座談，與影迷直接交流。
Many Taiwanese directors attended the festival plenary sessions which enabled the directors to interact with audiences.
高雄電影節的選片包括歐、美、日等不同的片單
Kaohsiung Film Festival featured a large selection of films including Japanese, European and American Productions.