FILM
Lost Black Cats 35th Squadron
疾風魅影－黑貓中隊
Taiwan | 2018 | 92 minutes | Documentary | Mandarin (English sub)
Director: 楊佈新 Jonathan Yang
Showtime
5/26 10:00 am
During the Cold War, 28 pilots of the Black Cat Squadron joined a secret mission with a chance of survival lower than Russian Roulette. Their life stories beg the unanswerable question: Who is a real hero?
Over the course of a fourteen-year mission, seven pilots lost their lives in training, and three on the mission. Another two were shot down and captured, never seeing home for more than two decades. Director Jonathan Yang sought to make sure their touching story would never be forgotten. Racing against time, he trekked from Asia to America to Europe and spent five years recording the last remaining days of these officers. Through the officers’ stories, and in their own seemingly lighthearted words, Yang portrays the ethos of that big era in history: solid loyalty and common values.
45 years after the last mission of the Black Cat team, the documentary speaks out the voice of this era again. It gives us a strong and gentle reminder to not forget people who have guarded us. As the film’s director said, “This is the memoir I want to leave to the next generation”.
「黑貓中隊」，台灣空軍史上不為人知的高空偵察隊，只有二十八位空軍精英能成功結訓，參與執行冷戰時期最神秘的台美軍事合作任務——「快刀計畫」。因為需夜間巡航七萬英呎，一人一機，機腹下並裝備有直徑達九零公釐的攝像鏡頭，故稱之為「黑貓」。
機密偵察任務，由兩國總統簽屬執行，難以駕馭的U-2偵察機，從桃園基地或泰國美軍基地起飛，跨越台灣海峽至中國大陸拍攝偵察空照圖，帶回戰略情資，但每趟任務的成功返回率卻只有五成。從一九六一後十四年間，黑貓中隊成員一共執行二百二十次任務，全身而退的只有十七人，其中兩位成員，則遭共軍擊落，被俘近二十年，最終幾經波折才重返家園。飛官們駕馭最困難的U-2，以性命為經，以青春為緯，安靜守護地台灣，胸口上的飛鷹和榮耀，是他們南腔北調中唯一的共同的語言，也是他們的夢想和心願。
「飛將在，一直都在」，五十年後，楊佈新導演與黑貓中隊，攜手記錄歷史，見證天空下用生命書寫的青春故事。
Late Life:
The Chien-Ming Wang Story
後勁：王建民
USA/Taiwan | 2018 | 99 minutes | Documentary | Mandarin (Eng sub)
Director: 陳惟揚 Frank W. Chen
Showtime
5/26 2:00 pm
As the first and only Taiwanese player for the New York Yankees, Chien-Ming Wang held many titles: American League Wins Leader, World Series Champion, Olympian, Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential, and The Pride of Taiwan. He had it all - until a 2008 injury forever altered the course of his career.
”Late Life: The Chien-Ming Wang Story” - named after the late-sinking action of his signature pitch - follows the rise and fall of an international icon as he fights his way back into the Major Leagues through endless rehab programs and lengthy stints away from home, carrying the weight of the world on his battered shoulder. A poignant and intimate account of Wang’s steadfast quest, “Late Life” tells the story of a man who is unwilling to give up and unable to let go.
加拿大台裔導演陳惟揚花費四年多時間，和王建民一起飛過美國21座城市，紀錄包含王建民在德州棒球農場苦練的艱辛、熱血重返大聯盟在皇家隊的時期。更貼身採訪王建民的家人、經紀人，以及和王建民共事過的教練、經理，暨其他和王建民熟識的台灣球員如：郭泓志、鄭錡鴻…等。
本紀錄片讓觀眾感受王建民不為人知的另一面和一路辛苦付出的過程。而這一切也呼應了片名《後勁LATE LIFE》的意義（LATE LIFE在棒球術語，指的是球在最後進到捕手手套時的尾勁，一個階段旅程的漂亮收尾）。
Father
紅盒子
Taiwan | 2018 | 99 minutes | Documentary | Taiwanese (English sub)
Director: 楊力州 Li-Chou Yang
Showtime
5/26 7:00 pm
Chen Hsi-Huang is the eldest son of puppet master Li Tian-Lu. Li Tian-Lu married into the Chen family, and gave the surname to his eldest son. A special relationship developed between father and son, and Chen became a master of his father’s craft. In 2009, at the age of 79, Master Chen left the Li family and set up his own troupe, which soon earned recognition all over the world. Nevertheless, this traditional art declined rapidly and Chen found no disciple to inherit his great skill.
Being a fan of puppetry, Director Yang Li-Chou named his studio “Backstage”: shooting documentary films, just like the backstage of puppetry, is to help people reveal a world. The production of “Father” lasted for ten years. It not only recorded the mission of an eighty-year-old elder to build his legacy, but also explored the conflicts between the two generations. This film shows the master’s intelligent skills to give the puppet life on the big screen, trying to inject the unique charm of the traditional puppet show and bring it back to ordinary people.
陳錫煌，已故布袋戲大師李天祿的長子。李天祿因入贅陳家，長子按規定得姓陳。父親巨人般的身影、異姓父子的特殊關係，為兩人種下難解心結。2009年，高齡七十九歲的陳錫煌離開家族庇蔭，只帶著紅盒子內供奉的戲神田都元帥，用自己的名字另創劇團，成為深獲國內外肯定的人間國寶。然而，傳統布袋戲的快速沒落，卻又讓他面臨空有一身絕學、慷慨授藝不藏私，可是後繼者寥寥可數的困境⋯⋯。
楊力州導演愛看布袋戲，工作室取名「後場」，意指拍攝紀錄片，一如為布袋戲敲鑼打鼓的樂陣，是在陪襯鏡頭裡的精彩人生。《紅盒子》製作歷時十年，不只紀錄八旬長者的傳承使命、探究兩代國寶的矛盾，更以大銀幕展現老師傅為戲偶注入靈魂的掌中技藝，用鏡頭將傳統布袋戲的獨特魅力，帶回常民生活。
The Silent Teacher
那個靜默的陽光午後
Taiwan | 2017 | 73 minutes | Documentary | Mandarin (English sub)
Director: 陳志漢 Maso Chen
Showtime
5/27 10:00 am
In Taiwan, a human body used for medical dissection is called “a silent teacher”. This film tells the story of Mrs. Lin, whose body will be dissected the next year. In the dissection class, Mrs. Lin, the “silent teacher”, will definitely teach the medical students and her family more about the meaning of life.
游泳教練林惠宗專程從嘉義開車北上，到輔大醫學院看他結縭二十三載的太太徐玉娥女士。有時候他只是看著太太，什麼也沒講。有時候他報告生活瑣事:「孩子們和我都還好,妳放心。」這樣的事一年之內他幾乎每個月都去做。直到這次，林惠宗再也壓抑不住，過去沒有把握機會或不懂得表達的愧疚、遺憾、思念，都隨著決堤的淚水傾瀉而出。
因為，徐玉娥是大體老師，下星期就要被送上解剖台，這將是林惠宗最後一次機會對著「完整的」老婆說話……
A Journey with Invisible Friends
看不見的台灣
Taiwan | 2018 | 118 minutes | Documentary | Taiwanese (English sub)
Director: 林明謙 Ming-Chien Lin
Showtime
5/27 1:00 pm
It's 2016, and director Mitch Lin is about to make a documentary about the nature of karma and causality, curious to explore these mysteries with the help of "channels" who can relay messages from gods and spirits. On the first day of shooting, Mitch is surprised to learn that the gods are contacting him through their channels: they want Mitch to resolve some karmic issues in his family and help the victims of the earthquake in Taiwan earlier that year, in order for him to earn the right to tell this story.
On that day, Mitch embarks on an “invisible journey”, meeting spirit mediums and shamanic healers, and undergoing challenges, including one with 17th century Chinese naval hero Koxinga who expelled the Dutch colonizers from Taiwan and is now revered as a god. Koxinga reveals a startling secret and then gives Mitch and his crew a difficult mission: to seek out the Siraya, an aboriginal tribe who are historical occupants of an ancient battleground, and to work hand-in-hand with them to heal the memories of this wounded field.
因緣際會撞見神仙下凡來解答？還是有緣自會相見歡？兩年前本來是記錄一場與神明∕靈魂溝通的通靈故事，探索未知世界。殊不知開拍的第一天，就被眾神明喊「卡！」，原來導演阿海得先了解祖先、化解難題，並累積功德才能有資格「神展開」！
因著熟知「天語」的通靈阿姐來助陣，正義又幽默的眾神明在鏡頭前說話：「小老大」九皇子，距今300年前勇闖台灣的「國姓爺」鄭成功，和西拉雅族祖靈「阿立祖」都開始參與其中，彷彿一股看不見的力量，默默影響台灣這塊土地。前世與今生環環相連，而公親變事主的阿海與拍攝團隊，抱著又驚又喜的心情，跌跌撞撞地闖出這段出乎意料的驚奇之旅。
Our Youth in Taiwan
我們的青春在台灣
Taiwan | 2019 | 118 minutes | Documentary | Mandarin (English sub)
Director: 傅榆 Yue Fu
Stories of bidding farewell to one’s youth and growing up are commonplace. This film’s protagonists share a dream to build a better country by rebelling against the establishment. However, their fight becomes part of history in the turbulent relations between Taiwan and China.
In the filmmaker’s words: “A Taiwanese student movement star, who fights against China, a celebrity Chinese student, who loves Taiwan, and I, a Taiwanese documentary filmmaker passionate about politics. Clashes should come between us, but we find the possibility of collaborating with each other in the social movements. After the biggest social movement in Taiwan in the past 24 years had taken place, we came close to realizing our goals but gradually we were let down again. Is it still possible for us to continue fighting for the ideals we had been pursuing?”
告別青春、走向成熟的故事，總是發生在世界各地的年輕生命裡。本片主角們的青春夢想，是想藉著反抗體制，追求一個更好的國家，卻在動盪的兩岸關係中，默默化成歷史片段。
一個反抗中國的台灣學運明星、一個喜愛台灣的中國學生、一個政治狂熱的台灣紀錄片工作者，他們之間理應充滿矛盾，卻在社會運動裡找到合作的可能性。在一場二十四年來台灣最大型的社會運動之後，他們從接近成功的巔峰，逐漸墜入失望的谷底，曾經堅持的理想，還有可能延續嗎？