released by the Taiwan government.

So we had a set of films from the last four decades,

and realised that there really wasn't much of a space for Taiwan film in Australia.

And as part of our core vision, at CIW, to engage with all aspects of the Chinese cultural world,

we thought, with the resources we have, we could put together a film festival, which

to my knowledge, hasn't actually happened in Australia.

I don't think there has been a Taiwan film festival, despite the fact that there are

numerous festivals for different cinemas from around the world.

Rebels of Neon God is really the first film that made Tsai Ming-Liang known for what he

has become. He has described himself as a slow director.

There is a kind of monotony, there is a beat and a pulse.

There is a digital soundtrack. Which is really inspired by the arcade games

of that era. And the characters in the film are often shown

at night. And they are moving around the streets. They are moving in and out of arcades. And

there is that sense of that 90s digital urban culture.

And so, his idea for the film was really based on trying to capture something alternative

about urban youth, at that time. And something uncertain.

The film opens with a scene of these two friends basically breaking into a telephone box and

stealing a bunch of money with a power screwdriver. So there is that sense of being on the edge

of something not quite legal, not quite know. Danger, and yet, the fragility of youth, all

within this gritty urban context. And his films often have focused on the marginal.

The outskirts, the undesired. On Friday night for the opening, there is

The City of Sadness, which is probably one of the masterpieces of Taiwanese recent cinema.

And I would say in terms of world cinema, is really quite amazing.

So on Saturday night, we have Monga. Which was incredibly successful. And outsold

Avatar at the box office. One of the reasons for that is that it has

a star-studded cast of young, good looking, very popular actors.

But the film itself also deals with really high action story, which has a bit of everything.

There is romance. There is action. There is tension within the young gang members.

Visually the film is very lush. Very very saturated colours.

A lot of scenes of a particular area of Taipei which is a bit old. A bit rough around the edges.

And the story also is reflecting change.

There is definitely a cinematic Asian action movie legacy, which is there.

And you can see that also in the fact that

these actors, and the characters are so cool, the way that they are dressed, the way that

they act. There is a real sense of contemporary style,

and really cool aspect about them, which comes from things like Monga and the influence of

some Japanese, in contemporary culture, probably. There are many exciting things about the film festival.

But obviously one of them for us is the fact

that we can work with the National Film and Sound Archive.

They have been very positive about presenting this together. As a way of showing that they

are working on something new for the Arc cinema and for the Archive itself.