I mentioned in our mid-week catch-up that I was really impressed with the focus on diversity, and I don’t mean the surface type of diversity where you talk a good game but present your audience with little-to-no viewpoints outside of one or two token POC directed and/or acted films. SIFF has always done a decent job with this, but in 2021 they’ve exploded with a great lineup including a few “packages” that put a spotlight on regions and cultures that rarely see a single spot in a festival like this, much less a cluster of films. I’m so excited to talk to you about this set of films created by artists specifically in Taiwan. Even in just these three features there’s a diversity in emotion, experience and expression and you’ll love them all.

My Missing Valentine (2020 | Taiwan | 119 minutes | Yu-Hsun Chen)
A post office clerk is tired of the daily grind and hearing about all the juicy romantic gossip from her “more attractive” co-worker. You know the ones that love telling you all about their love interests but immediately get bored when you talk about your own? Right before Valentine’s day she thinks she’s finally found the one. Excited about their special date, she leaves the house ready to go and discovers somehow she’s lost an entire day, but gained sunburn? She’s determined to uncover this mystery, and what she discovers is even better than what could have been.

I’m not sure why, but I’m particularly drawn to Chinese and Japanese romantic comedies. Maybe it’s the cheese-factor that always dominates the performances, the sugary sweetness of the characters or that I get to experience goofy romance through another lens but I’m just crazy for it. I was so enchanted by the acting and storytelling in Yu-Hsun Chen’s unique and visually beautiful film. I typically can see twists coming down the road, but this one was wacky and surprising enough to catch me off guard and I couldn’t help but fall in love.

Final Exam (2021 | Taiwan | 103 minutes | Chen-Ti Kuo)
The life of a teacher is a constant struggle between enriching the minds of your students, surviving on a salary that wouldn’t support the most meager of lifestyles, abiding the rules of your superiors, and finding even a sliver of a personal life to keep you sane. This, along with a deadbeat brother and a sick grandmother plagues this substitute teacher. He’s hoping to find a permanent position but the ever-tightening budget and the reputation of his brother threatens his future.

It’s a poignant and ___ look at the realities of the educational system in Taiwan. To be honest it so closely reflects the struggles of teachers in the states, it took little imagination to empathize and understand everything the lead was going through (save the good-for-nothing brother… but I think we all know someone that drains us financially and emotionally).

Get The Hell Out (2020 | Taiwan | 96 minutes | I.-Fan Wang)
A zombie apocalypse crossed with a comic book where politicians are the bad guys and the super heroes (complete with freeze frame action shots and killer fight scenes). Before they started snacking on each other, Hsiung Ying-ying is a driven, intelligent and talented MP in the Parliament with one goal: stop the dangerous power plant from being built on top of her childhood home (its waste gives people “idiot rabies”). She trusted the wrong person and everything went to hell. Now all she wants to do is get the hell out of parliament before she’s eaten alive.

From the first crazy action sequence where the female lead beats up a reporter and a security guard with some seriously impressive moves, I was hooked. The whole film is a journey through the ridiculous and if you’re willing, it’ll be a non-stop thrill ride of laughs, lots and lots (and lots) of b-level gore, and amazing fight sequences. So much fun (check out Tony’s review of this film as well)!