Department of Cultural Affairs

The 28th Taipei Film Festival will take place from June 26 to July 11. This year’s festival is centered on the theme “Stay Curious” and has acclaimed actor Ching-hua Tseng serving as festival ambassador. 

Since his breakout in 2019, Tseng has steadily established himself in with his constantly evolving performances, growing from the Taipei Film Festival’s “Outstanding Newcomer” into an accomplished actor who won the Golden Horse Award for Best Supporting Actor. 

This year, Tseng once again collaborated with Ke-yin Pan, director of Family Matters, to create the festival’s annual image campaign. Taking on the role of a traveler through time and space, he revisited his past characters and transformed his youthful beginnings into valuable experiences that continue to shape his acting journey. Playfully referring to himself as a “like a gung-ho class rep,” Tseng hopes to inspire more audiences to return to theaters, journey from the city to the silver screen, and discover the endless possibilities in each frame.

This year’s opening and closing films brought a series of exciting surprises, with world premieres for two new Taiwanese productions. The festival will open with Oh My Ghost! Oh My God!, a supernatural absurd comedy written, directed, and starring Soda Voyu. Featuring a star-studded international cast including Japanese comedy icon Naomi Watanabe, Jasper Liu, Esther Huang, and Vivian Hsu, the film follows a chaotic adventure through the mountains. The story follows Japanese superstar “Juliet the Songstress,” who travels to Taiwan with her manager to trace her roots, only to encounter ancestral spirits and ghosts that disrupt her journey with a mix of laughter and surprises.

The closing film, The Grandmaster’s Gift, brings the festival to an emotional finale with a heartwarming story about family and connection. Directed by Tammy Chen, the film stars veteran actor Li-chun Li, young talent I-le Hsieh, and Daniel Hong, who competed for the Taipei Film Awards last year with Mongrel. Together, they portray a touching bond across generations formed through the game of Go. The project was selected for the 2023 Produire au sud Taipei Workshop at the Taipei Film Festival and, after three years of careful development, returns to where the journey began for its premiere this year. 

Director Tammy Chen said that the Taipei Film Festival is a harbor where films can “set sail and return,” making this reunion feel like a meaningful homecoming. As the story explores the passage of time and the importance of companionship, meeting audiences at the place where the dream first took shape was especially significant for her.

While continuing to pursue innovation, the Taipei Film Festival also honors those who have nourished film culture. This year’s Outstanding Contribution Award goes to the Taiwan Film & Culture Association, which has been promoting cinema for 25 years. Since 2001, the association has been involved in organizing the Taipei Film Festival and Kaohsiung Film Festival, playing a crucial role in the early development of Taiwan’s festival culture. The association also launched the P.O.P Cinema project, bringing screenings across northern, central, and southern Taiwan to cultivate a dedicated audience for art films. With its years of experience, the association has further revitalized cultural spaces in venues including Taipei Film House – SPOT-Taipei and SPOT-Huashan, which have long served as important platforms for emerging filmmakers such as Kek-huat Lau and Jung-chi Chang early on in their careers. “For people who operate cinemas,” said Executive Director Venus Chen “the most important day is every day: the doors open, films are screened, the lights go out.”

This year’s Focus City (焦點城市) program, “Tehran,” spans half a century of Iranian cinema, presenting a diverse selection ranging from historical classics to contemporary masterpieces. The Retrospective (影史回顧) section features 21 landmark films, including The House Is Black, the only surviving film by one of Iran’s most influential 20th-century poets, Forugh Farrokhzad, and First Case, Second Case by master filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami, which explores collective decision-making. Together, these works invite audiences to explore how Iranian filmmakers forged unique cinematic paths through the avant-garde aesthetics of the 1960s and the experimental “Cinema-ye Azad” movement of the 1970s.

The Tehran program further examines the resilience of contemporary Iranian society through the Contemporary Selection (當代精選) section, featuring acclaimed works such as Cutting Through Rocks, winner of a major award at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, as well as the newly restored 4K version of Persepolis. These films reveal the absurdities of political and religious systems while portraying the courage of marginalized communities, including LGBTQ+ people trying to survive and looking for their identity. 

To commemorate the passing of Bahram Beyzaie, known as the “Shakespeare of Iran,” the Taipei Film Festival has also created a Focus on Filmmaker (焦點影人) section which will feature his groundbreaking debut feature Downpour and his acclaimed masterpiece Bashu, the Little Stranger. These deeply poetic works, once banned, have profoundly influenced filmmakers such as Jafar Panahi and Asghar Farhadi. Their return to the big screen at the Taipei Film Festival not only pays tribute to a cinematic master but also allows audiences to rediscover the pure artistic power that can emerge even under restrictions and censorship.

With innovative curation, cross-disciplinary perspectives, and deep connections to the city’s cultural landscape, the Taipei Film Festival continues to expand cinematic horizons through wide-ranging selections and engaging programs. This year’s festival brings together established Taiwanese filmmakers, emerging creative voices, and exceptional international works, and invites film lovers to gather for a midsummer celebration of cinema. Journey from the city to the silver screen, stay curious, and explore the endless possibilities hidden in every frame.