At the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, Taiwanese director Shih-Ching Tsou’s (鄒時擎) solo directorial debut, Left-Handed Girl (左撇子女孩), earned the Gan Foundation Award for Distribution—an accolade commissioned to help new filmmakers distribute their first feature films across France. Taiwan’s increased visibility at renowned international independent film festivals like the Cannes Film Festival is much welcomed. Indeed, independent films’ reputation for prioritizing storytelling over commercial appeal, as well as their trademark grassroots approach to film production and distribution, make them an ideal tool to amplify a unique, pluralistic Taiwanese identity.
In recent years, the proliferation of streaming platforms has granted a handful of independent and commercially-oriented Taiwanese films widespread exposure. Nonetheless, many of Taiwan’s most globally influential films first gained recognition via their success in large international independent film festivals. Hou Hsiao-hsien’s (侯孝賢) City of Sadness (悲情城市), a sprawling film about the aftermath of World War II and the Kuomintang’s (KMT, 國民黨) rule in Taiwan, earned Taiwan its first Golden Lion at the 46th Venice International Film Festival in 1989. The late Edward Yang’s (楊德昌) A Brighter Summer Day (牯嶺街少年殺人事件) won critical acclaim at the Tokyo International Film Festival, where it was awarded the FIPRESCI Prize, while Yang’s later work Yi Yi (一一) secured him a Best Director Prize at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival. Vive L’Amour (愛情萬歲) earned Malaysian director Tsai Ming-liang (蔡明亮)—a prominent figure in Taiwanese cinema—a Golden Lion award at the 1994 Venice Film Festival. In the same decade, Academy Award-winning Taiwanese director Ang Lee’s (李安) early independent films, such as The Wedding Banquet and Eat Drink Man Woman, secured a host of nominations and accolades from independent film festivals like the Berlinale and award ceremonies like the Independent Spirit Awards. Taiwan maintains a notable presence in international film festivals today, and Left-Handed Girl’s recognition at Cannes marks a continuation of this legacy.
Indie for Taiwan: Capturing Crowds, Interpersonal Exchange, and Symbolic Alignment
Taiwan’s continuous presence in the independent film scene, especially at international independent film festivals, helps cultivate its soft power and strengthens its bid for international recognition—both practically and symbolically. Taiwanese independent films comprise a majority of Taiwan’s most lasting contributions to the global film industry. In US colleges, syllabi for courses on Taiwanese cinema favor films from the Taiwan New Wave Cinema movement, a period in Taiwan’s film history dominated by independent productions. Past Taiwanese film festival winners have also been immortalized in the Criterion Collection, a New York-based company best known for its renowned selection of “important classic and contemporary films.” Preceding Taiwanese films have built an audience base that Taiwan should continue to invigorate.
Figure: Visualizations of Taiwanese submissions accepted to compete in the most well-attended international independent film festivals (Figure source: Author’s original work via Flourish)
Taiwan’s participation in international independent film festivals also improves Taiwan’s visibility and soft power by fostering people-to-people ties. Independent international film festivals like Cannes and the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) present attendees with an array of networking opportunities, spanning breakfast meetings to professional development events. Taiwanese filmmakers’ engagement in such invite-only events functions as an exercise in people-to-people diplomacy by letting Taiwanese industry professionals forge professional networks and broaden other attendees’ perceptions of Taiwan. Besides professional development, separate social gatherings made available to the attendees of prominent film festivals also serve as avenues for publicity. The appearance of high-profile figures like American director Sean Baker and Japanese filmmaker Hirokazu Kore-eda at the Taiwan Film and Audiovisual Institute’s 2025 Cannes Taiwan Cinema Night—an externally-hosted event celebrating achievements in Taiwanese filmmaking—can further assist in expanding the global reach of Taiwanese independent films.
More than any other segment of the film community, independent film festivals have boosted Taiwan’s bids for international recognition. The 2023 and 2024 Sundance Film Festivals Asia were held consecutively in Taipei, with both featuring a curated lineup of international independent films and Taiwanese short films. While the event—the product of a collaboration between the Taiwanese American-run company G2Go Entertainment (雞兔狗) and the Sundance Institute—is smaller than the Sundance film festival in Utah, it offers ample opportunity for emerging Taiwanese independent filmmakers to showcase their projects to a regional (and, at times, global) audience. Event organizers’ decision to hold the festival in Taiwan also indicates the global independent film community’s openness to establishing Taiwan as a hub where independent film enthusiasts from across Asia can gather.
Another indicator of the independent film community’s acceptance of Taiwan is reflected in the absence of contentious naming conventions undercutting Taiwan’s submissions to international independent film festivals. Typically, when Taiwan is permitted to compete in international sporting events like the Olympics or join international organizations such as the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), it can only do so under the name “Chinese Taipei.” However, the top international film festivals appear to attribute Taiwan’s contributions directly to “Taiwan” or “Taipei,” sometimes even explicitly naming Taiwan as a “country.” [1] In an announcement publicizing its 2025 festival lineup, the Los Angeles-based Slamdance Film Festival listed Taiwan as a “country” from which submissions were received. Meanwhile, a blogpost published on the official website of the widely attended Clermont-Ferrand short film festival in France chronicles the thematic evolution of Taiwanese cinema in an entry titled “2023 country in focus: Taiwan.” Independent festivals’ explicit recognition of Taiwan and the stories Taiwanese filmmakers have to share presents a stark contrast to Taiwan’s treatment by the mainstream film industry.
Image: Screenshots from Slamdance and Clermont-Ferrand’s website explicitly recognizing Taiwan. (Source: Screenshots captured by author)
International film festivals have also publicly defied the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) political stances. To the PRC’s chagrin, Revolution of Our Times (時代革命), a documentary about Hong Kong’s struggle for democratization, premiered at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival—a day before the winner of the Palme d’Or was announced. Due to the last-minute announcement of the documentary’s inclusion, the PRC was unable to prohibit its filmmakers from participating in that year’s festival, but Chinese films were noticeably absent from the 2022 Cannes official selection. Even before the incident, the Chinese government had begun to toughen its stance on PRC filmmakers’ attendance at international film festivals, especially those organized by Western nations. In 2018, China’s State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television (SAPPRFT, 国家广播电视总局) was dissolved, further consolidating the Party’s control over Chinese films. Following the change, the number of Chinese film entries withdrawn from Western international film festivals at the last minute experienced a steady rise. It seems that Cannes had concealed the debut of Revolution of Our Times in order to prevent Chinese films from being pulled from the festival lineup.
Sparking Dialogue on Inclusivity: Indie Films as a Jumping-off Point
Beyond using film festivals to promote its visibility, independent filmmaking can aid Taiwan in capturing its unique social landscape and political challenges through more pluralistic and complex cinematic narratives. Taiwan, whose history was shaped by multiple colonial empires and whose sovereignty is currently contested by the PRC, also has an obligation to define and display Taiwanese identity as inclusively as possible. Independent filmmaking, while complementing the grassroots spirit and pluralism of Taiwanese democracy, should not be treated as a flawless tool for producing diverse interpretations of who and what constitute Taiwan.
Mongrel (白衣蒼狗), an acclaimed Taiwanese independent film that follows the life of a Thai migrant care worker in Taiwan, was one of six Taiwanese films at Cannes. While many critics praised the film’s depiction of the adversities endured by Southeast Asian migrant care workers in Taiwan, a handful of critics and users of the popular social networking platform Letterboxd critiqued the film for its depiction of a pressing social issue. One reviewer from Singapore wrote: “I am sorry for the migrant workers of Taiwan who thought they could see some form of representation for themselves but were delivered with a sad, one-dimensional portrayal of their daily hardship.” Mongrel’s mixed reviews point to independent films’ potential for catalyzing dialogue. Independent films play a crucial role in uncovering underrepresented perspectives, but viewers should be cautious about heralding them as any more than a jumping-off point from which they can conduct further research on Taiwan.
Apart from sparking conversation, Taiwan must place particular emphasis on giving aspiring filmmakers from underrepresented communities an opportunity to shape and broadcast their stories. Taiwan’s use of independent films as a medium of storytelling, alone, cannot positively influence how it is perceived internationally. Independent films have added diverse perspectives to Taiwan’s mainstream film industry, but to further democratize Taiwanese filmmaking, filming equipment and knowledge must be made more accessible. To this end, Indigenous filmmaker Sayun Simung inaugurated the Ministry of Culture-backed Indigenous Film Academy of Taiwan (台灣原住民族電影學院) in August of 2022 to equip Indigenous communities—many of which have been reduced to subjects of outsider examination—with the exposure and resources they need to become agents within their own narratives. Still, as of June 6, 2025, the Academy indicates that it remains in its “early stages,” suggesting room for further progress toward supporting Indigenous-led filmmaking initiatives.
Sustaining Investment in Independent Filmmaking
Taiwan should continue to seize on the significance of its submissions to international independent film festivals as an avenue for public diplomacy. In 2024, the Bureau of Audiovisual and Music Industry Development (BAMID, 文化部影視及流行音樂產業局) of Taiwan’s Ministry of Culture (中華民國文化部) collaborated with Marché du Film (the Cannes film market) to launch the “Golden Horse Goes to Cannes” initiative. The initiative, though seemingly a one-off occurrence, secured the entry of five Taiwanese films into the 2024 Cannes Film Festival. Meanwhile, Taiwan’s eagerness to host satellite versions of established international film festivals like the Sundance Film Festival cements it as an active contributor to global indie filmmaking. International Taiwanese film festivals, including Impression Taiwan’s Taiwan Film Festival Berlin and Taiwan Entrepreneurs Society Taipei/Toronto’s (TESTT) Taiwan Film Festival in Toronto also facilitate the entry of Taiwanese independent films into markets from which they are typically absent. By ensuring the widespread reach of Taiwanese independent films to global independent film enthusiasts, Taiwan can build upon its legacy in independent filmmaking.
Apart from appearing at festivals, Taiwan’s government and filmmakers should aim to negotiate the addition of a “Taiwan International Independent Film Festival Favorites” lineup across popular streaming platforms. Such a curated list would position Taiwan as an active contributor to the indie film scene while ensuring selected films reach a more general audience. The Taiwanese government can also increase funding to various media organizations to make a select number of films free to watch on demand for a limited time, as it currently does with Taiwan Plus. Furthermore, to maximize the narrative-building potential of such resources, free films should be coupled with educational resources.
Reflecting Taiwanese Society and Values through Independent Films
Outside of the works they write and direct, Taiwan-based creatives also leave their mark on the independent film scene through their work as producers. Taiwanese co-produced projects are equally vital to helping Taiwan construct a narrative about the type of place it is and the values it supports. Already, BAMID offers monetary incentives to increase the number of Taiwanese-produced foreign films and TV dramas. Nonetheless, the focus for Taiwanese creatives should lie in exercising greater intentionality about the projects with which they align rather than simply increasing the quantity of films they produce. This can entail co-producing queer films, films that explore pro-democracy themes, or films that critique social issues Taiwan has voiced its interest in rectifying.
Independent films, known for their grassroots spirit, align closely with Taiwan’s values-based and civil society-oriented democracy. They have also given Taiwan a form of uncompromised global exposure that it lacks at other international events. Taiwan should utilize the opportunities for visibility and people-to-people exchange afforded by international independent film festivals to showcase an all-encompassing picture of Taiwan. Still, ensuring that Taiwanese films are showcased at international independent film festivals is not the end of the road. The quality of the stories Taiwan tells and produces also matters—notably, more efforts should be made to center the perspectives of marginalized groups.
The main point: The visibility of Taiwanese films in international independent film festivals constitute an indispensable part of Taiwan’s efforts to expand its international space. On top of film festivals’ greater acceptance of Taiwanese works, independent filmmaking is generally more conducive to amplifying non-mainstream perspectives. However, independent filmmaking is just a starting point, and concrete measures to present a more expansive picture of Taiwan must accompany funding for existing independent filmmaking and festival collaborations.
[1] All the top 10 international film festivals credit Taiwan’s entries as from “Taiwan” or “Taipei.”
