Last year, Taiwanese director Fu Yue’s (傅榆) documentary Our Youth in Taiwan won the 55th Golden Horse Award for Best Documentary. In her acceptance speech, Fu said, “I hope that one day, our country can be treated as an independent entity.” Her comment, along with many political factors, has led to China’s boycotting of the 2019 Golden Horse Awards.
The absence of Chinese films, however, highlighted the vibrancy of Southeast Asian films, granting even more possibilities for the development of Sinophone cinema.
To recount Malaysian-born filmmakers who earned their reputation in Taiwan, we can think of directors like Tsai Ming-liang (蔡明亮), Lau kek-huat (廖克發), and Tan Seng Kiat (陳勝吉). Their works have incorporated Malaysian and Taiwanese elements, breaking boundaries and creating something unique in itself.
