Film Study Trip in Taipei (2016)

A group of 12 Film students went to Taipei, Taiwan for a 1-week study trip. The aim of the trip was to give students opportunities to gain deeper insights into the different approaches in filmmaking by practitioners from different countries, and to expose students to current and critically acclaimed international films at the renowned Golden Horse Film Festival.

The students attended a series of masterclasses with award-winning filmmakers, including Chiang Wei Liang (Director of Anchorage Prohibited 禁止下錨 ) and Midi Z (Director of The Road to Mandalay 再見瓦城). The students also visited the Taiwan Film Institute, where they learned about film archival, production, and indie film distribution. 


With Chiang Wei Liang (front row, left), Director of Anchorage Prohibited, after a masterclass at the Taiwan Film Institute​


Masterclass on directing with Midi Z (centre, in black), Director of The Road to Mandalay


Learning about film digitisation at the Taiwan Film Institute Film Vault​

At the Golden Horse Film Festival, the students watched several film screenings, and participated in post-screening dialogue sessions, where they could ask questions to the directors personally and learn more about their films.

Read a reflection by Year 6 student Megan Lim, one of the Film students who went on the trip, below:

"The Taiwan Film Arts Excellence Programme (AEP) trip allowed me to broaden my scope of cinema knowledge and experience. From the back to back film screenings as part of the Golden Horse Film Festival, to the behind-the-scenes look at film restoration at the Taiwan Film Institute, the trip provided a comprehensive scope of the multi-faceted nature of filmmaking. We also had the opportunity to meet people from different areas in the film industry, such as Midi Z, a Burmese film director, and a CEO of film distribution, who gave us a holistic view of the creative and financial aspects of the film industry. Experiencing the Golden Horse Film Festival in conjunction with the Singapore International Film Festival (SGIFF) afterwards, allowed me to see the differences between the film cultures in Taiwan and Singapore, and learn what makes Taiwan cinema so special."

Megan Lim En
Film Class of 2017