Department of Cultural Affairs

2021 Taipei Literature Film Festival Returns with a Bang
Classic French New Wave Inspires in the Post-Pandemic Era
 
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2021 Taipei Literature Film Festival, sponsored by the Taipei Department of Cultural Affairs, was pushed back to October 22. After a four-month postponement, the film festival will return with a bang to SPOT-Taipei (Taipei Film House) and SPOT-Huashan, when it showcases the most influential film movement in history—La Nouvelle Vague (French New Wave).
 
This revolutionary moment in film, inspired by classical and avant-garde literature, will be presented through 17 iconic works that illustrate the principle of “auteurism” and the idea of la caméra-stylo (“camera-pen”), works that produced a global cinematic revolution that echoes our own current turbulent times. We hope that, in the midst of this pandemic, the film festival will help film fans cherish the infinite possibilities that literature and film inspire in daily life.
 
These historically important films by major New Wave directors not only broke away from the restrictive framework of traditional narrative film-making but also absorbed the spirit of contemporary writers to produce artistic creations of unprecedented glamour. Each of these works still enchants audiences around the world, and we hope that festival-goers will enjoy exploring the glorious moments of yesteryear by watching these films on the big screen.
 
Major film artists such as Jean-Luc Godard, François Truffaut, Éric Rohmer, Alain Robbe-Grillet, and Agnès Varda have well-deserved places in cinematic history. The festival closely studies the major ideas of La Rive Gauche and La Rive Droite to give a more complete outline of La Nouvelle Vague, the golden age of film.
 
Selected films include godfather of New Wave François Truffaut’s debut feature The 400 Blows, hailed as a must-watch masterpiece, with a stunning retrospective on the film’s ending that comprises three long takes and is regarded as one of the classic endings in film history. Legendary avant-garde director Jean-Luc Godard continues to contribute to film circles at the age of ninety. His collaborations with Jean Paul Belmondo in the revolutionary films Breathless and Pierrot le Fou will strike a spark in the viewer’s heart for the charms of the eternal rebel.
 
The festival will also show a restored version of Last Year at Marienbad, directed by Alain Resnais and with a script by Alain Robbe-Grillet, a leading writer of the nouveau roman. Regarded as a modernist master, in this film Resnais fuses reality and fantasy with incredible mises en scène and experimental use of sound and image. Critics have hailed the film as an unsurpassable masterpiece.
 
Agnès Varda, shown here as a representative of La Rive Gauche, is seen as a pioneer of feminist film-making. In the works, Le Bonheur and Cléo from 5 to 7, she offers deep exploration of female psychology and social transgression. In addition to the screenings, peripheral activities will  include a lecture by Professor Huang Chien-Yeh, winner of the 2021 Taipei Film Awards Outstanding Contribution Award, who will guide listeners through the world of avant-garde film.
 
The 2021 Taipei Literature Film Festival will be held from October 22 to November 2 at both SPOT-Taipei (Taipei Film House) and SPOT-Huashan. Tickets will go on sale at 12 pm on Friday October 8. For more information, please visit our website ([link]), the 2021 Taipei Literature Film Festival website ([link]) or the SPOT-Taipei (Taipei Film House) website ([link]).