Department of Cultural Affairs

The annual Taipei Film Festival (TFF) on Wednesday announced nominations for its Taipei Film Award, with NT$1 million grand prize up for grabs for established as well as new directors. The TFF this year canceled restrictions on genres competing for the grand prize, meaning entries from narrative features, documentaries, short films, and animations may all compete for the NT$1 million grand prize.

In addition to the Grand Prize, the prize money for each category has also been raised, the TFF said in a press release. Of 249 submissions 10 full-length features, 10 documentaries, 10 short films, and 10 animations were nominated for the Taipei Film Award to be held on July 10.

The Award is considered to be a measure for good box office receipts and the possibility of winning other film awards. The homegrown mega-hits, “Cape No.7” and “No puedo vivir sin ti” were the top winners in 2008 and 2009 respectively.

To encourage films with more dynamic plots, the TFF has also increased the NT$250,000 prize money to NT$500,000 for the Best Feature, Best Documentary, Best Short Film, and Best Animation this year.

The 10 contenders nominated in the full-length category were Arvin Chen’s “Au Revoir Taipei,” Chen Wei-ping’s “Everlasting Moments,” “Face” by auteur Tsai Ming-liang, “The Fourth Portrait” from director Chung Meng-hong, and “Hear Me” by Cheng Fen-fen. The other five films are box-office hit “Monga” by Doze Niu, “Pinoy Sunday” by Ho Wei-ting, “Seven Days in Heaven” from Wang Yu-lin and Liu Tzu-hsieh, “Taipei Exchanges” from Hsiao Ya-chuan, and “Tears” by Cheng Wen-tang.

“The Fourth Portrait” and “Pinoy Sunday” were the only two local films nominated in the “New Talent Competition.” They will be representing Taiwan and competing against 10 directors from the international stage. The highest honor is the NT$600,000 grand prize plus one trophy.

The Taipei Film Festival runs from June 25 to July 15. Ticketing begins on May 22.