Art and Entertainment

Jody Chiang, Chen Yang win Golden Melody lifetime award

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/05/18
By: Christie Chen

Taipei, May 18 (CNA) Taiwanese pop diva Jody Chiang (江蕙) and composer Chen Yang (陳揚) were awarded the Golden Melody Awards’ Lifetime Contribution Award on Monday in recognition of their achievements in Taiwan’s music scene.

It was the first time the Lifetime Contribution Award will be given to two recipients at the same time, according to the jury.

Works by Chiang, 53, document the development of Taiwan’s society and “touch people deep in the heart,” the Ministry of Culture’s Bureau of Audiovisual and Music Industry Development said in a statement. [FULL STORY]

Cannes: Taiwanese Anger Over Director Prompts Program Edit

The Hollywood Reporter
Date: 5/15/2015
By Clifford Coonan

Cannes film festival organizers have updated the official program after Taiwan

AP Images

complained about the description of Hou Hsiao-hsien, whose movie The Assassin is in competition, as being from Mainland China.

Officials in self-ruled Taiwan, a bitter rival of mainland China, were angry about the description of Hou as being of “Chinese nationality” in the festival’s official program and the absence of the Taiwanese flag at the festival.

Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Anna Kao said that the country’s representative in France had complained to organizers, who updated the entry on its website to say that Hou was from Taiwan and it had also promised to fly the Taiwanese flag outside the Palais. [FULL STORY]

Taiwanese director mistaken for Chinese at Cannes Film Festival

eTaiwan News
Date: 2015-05-12
By: By Emmmanuelle Tzeng and Evelyn Kao, Central News Agency

Taipei, May 12 (CNA) Taiwanese film director Hou Hsiao-hsien (???) was mistaken for a Chinese national by the organizer of the 68th annual Cannes Film Festival, which is scheduled to be held from Wednesday through May 24. Hou’s martial arts epic “The Assassin” (???) has been selected to be screened in the festival’s main competition section. In the festival brochure, Hou is listed as a Chinese national, while the Republic of China national flag has not been hung at the venue. In response, Michel Ching-long Lu (???), Taiwan’s representative to France, said his office has sent a letter to the event organizer demanding that a correction of Hou’s nationality be made and that the ROC national flag be hung.

Taiwan film selected as one of opening programs in INPUT 2015

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/05/11
By: Yang Ming-chu and Lilian Wu

Tokyo, May 11 (CNA) A Taiwanese television program titled “The Free Man” (自

Photo from Facebook

由人) was screened on the opening day of the International Public Television (INPUT) 2015 that opened in Tokyo on Monday.

More than 70 works from the world’s public broadcasting and television companies have been included in the four-day INPUT 2015, with two from Taiwan. In addition to “The Free Man,” the short film “Friends or Foes” will be screened on Wednesday.

Quah Boon Lip (柯汶利), director of “The Free Man,” attended the screening of his work and shared his creative process with the audience.

Quah, born in Malaysia, was still a graduate student at Taipei National University of the Arts when he directed the film. He is touted for making use of symbols and metaphors to portray unique human nature. [FULL STORY]

Katy Perry sparks controversy with Taiwan flag and sunflower dress

Want China Times
Date: 2015-04-30
By: Staff Reporter

American singer-songwriter Katy Perry may have just sabotaged her

Katy Perry’s possible couture faux pas: sporting a sunflower dress and draped in the Taiwan flag. (Internet photo)

opportunities in the lucrative Chinese market after making — probably unwittingly — two political statements on her debut performance in Taiwan.

During her concert at Taipei Arena on Tuesday night, the 30-year-old singer delivered a rendition of her song Unconditionally in a glittery dress covered in sunflowers, while also draping a Republic of China flag over her shoulders.

The sunflower motif was a recurring theme at the concert, which some have interpreted as a show of support for the Sunflower Movement last year, which saw student demonstrators storm Taiwan’s legislature to protest the passing of a trade agreement with China by the ruling Kuomintang without proper review. [FULL STORY]

Entertainer Cindy commits suicide

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/04/22
By: Wang Ching-yi and Lee Hsin-Yin

Taipei, April 22 (CNA) The model and celebrity Cindy (楊又穎), a TV host and movie actress, was found at her residence Tuesday in what police described the following day as an apparent suicide.

Cindy, 24, used to host the variety show “Love Player (愛玩咖)” between 2011 and 2013 and just recently starred in the movie “First of May (五月一號)”.

Daughter of former Council of Agriculture head Peng Tso-kwei (彭作奎), Cindy, whose real name is Peng Hsin-yi (彭馨逸), was found dead at her residence, along with a helium bottle and a farewell letter, police said. [FULL STORY]

Ang Lee’s Iraq war drama slated for release next year

Want China Times
Date: 2015-04-20
By: CNA

TriStar Pictures has slated Taiwan-born director Ang Lee’s wartime drama Billy Lynn’s Long

Ang Lee at Taipei National University of the Arts in Taipei, November 2013. (File photo/Wang Chin-he)

Halftime Walk for release on Veterans Day, Nov. 11, next year.

The film is an adaptation of Ben Fountain’s 2012 novel of the same name, which tells the story of 19-year-old private Billy Lynn and members of his squad who survived a battle in Iraq.

Lynn and his squad are brought back to the United States by the government to join a tour to rally support for the war, knowing that they will soon be sent back to the battlefield.

Lee is expected to cast newcomer Joe Alwyn as the title character. Vin Diesel, Chris Tucker, Kristen Stewart and Steve Martin are also expected to star.

Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk is Lee’s first film since the 2012 adventure drama Life of Pi, for which he won his second Oscar for best director.

Taiwan’s entertainment business lucrative for stringers

Want China Times
Date: 2015-04-20
By: Liao Hui-chuan and Staff Reporter

Mainland Chinese media are still paying a pretty penny to grab exclusive and fresh content

Kuo Shu-yau, left, a Taiwanese TV and movie celebrity, gives food to one of her fans at an event in Taipei on April 18. (Photo/Nien Keng-hao)

from Taiwan’s vibrant entertainment news industry, reports our Chinese-language sister newspaper Want Daily.

Most Chinese media outlets do not have their own correspondents in Taiwan, and prefer to hire a Taiwanese stringer to report on local entertainment events on a daily basis.

When a media company wishes to establish a branch office in Taiwan, it has to provide all sorts of healthcare insurance and other benefits to the correspondent, as well as a fixed salary, a senior Taiwanese journalist said. The salary paid to correspondents in Taiwan, however, has to be at least 10% higher than the average salary in the media industry in China, but foreign media corporations are reluctant to hire extra employees in order to cut down on costs. [FULL STORY]

Tickets for Maroon 5 concert in Taipei sell out in 12 minutes

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/04/19
By: Wang Ching-yi and Christie Chen

Taipei, April 19 (CNA) Tickets for an upcoming concert by American pop rock band Maroon 5 at

Photo courtesy of Live Nation Taiwan

Taipei World Trade Center Nangang Exhibition Hall on September 14 went on sale at 5pm on Saturday and all 15,000 were snatched up within 12 minutes.

They were priced from NT$1,800 (US$57.94) to NT$4,800.

Live Nation Taiwan, the promoter of the concert, said ticket sales totaled about NT$60 million. [FULL STORY]

Taiwanese film grabs top prize at Houston film festival

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/04/19
By: Christie Chen

Taipei, April 19 (CNA) Taiwanese director Chen Hung-I (陳宏一) on Sunday won the Grand

Chen Hung-I (陳宏一).

Remi Award for best feature film at the 48th WorldFest-Houston International Film and Video Festival with his urban romance “Design 7 Love” (相愛的七種設計).

“Design 7 Love,” starring actors and actresses from Taiwan and China, is about the love and hate relationship among seven individuals who work in a design company in Taipei.

The film was nominated in two categories — Best New Performer and Best Visual Effects — at Taiwan’s Golden Horse Awards last year.

The festival, which honors independent films and filmmakers, is one of the three original international film festivals in North America, following San Francisco and New York. [FULL STORY]

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