IMPRESSION TAIWAN

Impression Taiwan offers a cinematic journey through Taiwan’s landscapes, culture, and contemporary society. The program showcases diverse voices and stories, highlighting the country’s rich film heritage and its vibrant, evolving cinematic scene. As the millennium approached, Taiwan stood at a crossroads of dizzying modernization and uncertain identity. This special screening presents a dialogue between the two titans of Taiwan New Cinema, Hou Hsiao-hsien and Edward Yang, offering two divergent yet complementary visions of a society in flux.

Hou’s Goodbye South, Goodbye plunges us into the humid, neon-soaked margins of the island. With kinetic, improvisational energy, Hou captures the aimless drift of a group of friends moving between the rural South and the urban North. It is a film of constant motion—a sensory fever dream of motorcycle rides and train journeys that embodies the restless anxiety of a generation searching for their place in a rapidly transforming landscape.

In stark contrast, Yang’s Yi Yi offers a pristine, architectural gaze into the heart of Taipei. Spanning the quiet experiences of an ordinary family, this intimate epic explores the complexity of human relationships with surgical precision and profound empathy. Through Yang’s lens, we witness the universal struggle for meaning across different generations, as characters navigate the delicate balance between their inner dreams and the expectations of a high-tech, capitalist society.

Impression Taiwan (映像臺灣) is a Berlin-based non-profit organization (e.V.) dedicated to promoting Taiwanese cinema and culture. Best known for organizing the annual Taiwan Film Festival Berlin, we strive to create a vibrant platform for dialogue and cultural exchange in the heart of Germany. By showcasing both New Wave classics, Impression Taiwan aims to illuminate the diverse narratives of our island and foster a deeper connection through the power of film. (Impression Taiwan)