Los Angeles, Nov. 4 (CNA) The third Taiwan Biennial Film Festival (TBFF) in the United States kicked off this week with a theatrical premiere in Hollywood, leading a lineup of 19 Taiwanese films and shorts that will be shown until Nov. 12.

Headlining the festival is “Man in Love” (??????), directed by Yin Chen-hao (???), which has been praised as one of the most successful Taiwanese films this year.

The film’s U.S. theatrical premiere was held at Hollywood’s iconic TCL Chinese Theater on Wednesday evening, attended by moviegoers, film critics, and the festival’s organizers and sponsors.

The rest of the 10-day festival will run until Nov. 12 with 19 feature films and shorts that will be shown online on the festival’s sponsoring platform, Watchbeem.

At the screening of “Man in Love,” Louis M. Huang (???), head of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Los Angeles, told CNA that the third edition of the event was the first time his office has collaborated with professionals from the U.S. film industry.

“I hope to bring Taiwan to Hollywood, the movie capital of the world,” Huang said, and “I want U.S. audiences to see the unique aesthetic of Taiwanese films and our culture.”

Speaking with CNA at the red carpet event, Nikki DePaola of the Taiwanese United Fund (TUF), one of the festival’s sponsors, said: “It’s more important than ever to have Taiwanese representation in mainstream American pop culture and American media.”

“It’s a way for Taiwan to express itself — its individualism, its culture and its heritage,” she said.

Douglas Montgomery, the festival’s curator, told CNA after the screening that “Taiwan can tell a very good story.”

“I think if you have a good story, people are captivated by it,” said Montgomery, the CEO of media consulting company Global Connects and founder and executive producer of the renowned Japan Connects Hollywood Film Festival.

With the support of Taiwan’s Ministry of Culture, the third iteration of the film festival, whose theme this year is “Breadth of Life,” was organized by the Los Angeles chapter of the Taiwan Academy of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in partnership with the Taiwan Creative Content Agency (TAICCA).

Other sponsors of the festival include Taiwanese-American arts and culture foundation TUF and global co-watching platform Watchbeem Inc.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel