You may have remembered my interview with Arvin Chen, a Taiwanese-American filmmaker working in Taipei. His award-winning short film, MEI, world premiered at the Berlin Film Festival in 2007 and won the Silver Bear for Best Short. What I enjoy about MEI is that it’s a love letter to Taipei, especially the night markets there; sweet and simple with a bittersweet ending. From Chen’s own words, this is not a “Taiwanese film,” but a foreigner’s perspective of Taiwan. It’s interesting to see these hybrid films come out with the children of immigrant parents who have become filmmakers who return to their respective motherlands and work in film there. I’m glad that Chen putting the finishing touches on his first feature, AU REVOIR, TAIPEI, which is an expansion of MEI. It should be debuting at a major film festival in the next couple of months, and commercially in Taiwan in April. In the meantime, enjoy MEI:
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Short Film Spotlight: MEI
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Nice short. Look forward to the full length feature. For some reason the wife really likes the name of this short
Mei was very moving. A lot of emotions were captured on screen without needing to be said. Thank you Anderson!
Great find, Andy! There’s a good story that’s given a nice, long set up here. Chen works well with actors, as they don’t seem like they’re acting. I like that it’s a love story wherein the two principles probably won’t get together, as he’ll sacrifice his freedom so that she can live her dream of moving to NYC. Quite a moving story against the backdrop of a beautifully filmed Taipei.
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