Event

Week 2 of the festival begins on Thursday, Nov 11th at 7p Eastern, with a dialogue between FCI co-founder and biologist Lee Vandivier and renowned canine psychologist and author of Dog is Love Dr. Clive Wynne. Dr. Wynne will share his insights into the world of dogs and wolves as we frame the screening of Twelve Nights 2 and Formosan Black Bear is Coming, two films that explore the societal and ecological impacts of our relationship with animals. We will also explore animal welfare across different nations, and how to build connection and compassion for other species and wilderness.

The festival will also host a post-screening Q&A with directors Jue-Ming Mai (Formosan B.B. is Coming) and Raye (Twelve Nights 2) on Friday, Nov 12th at 9p Eastern.

The following two films will be streaming from Friday 7pm EDT to Sunday 7pm EST:

Formosan B.B. is Coming《黑熊來了》, Chueh-Ming MAI, 2019, 120mins, in Mandarin with English and Chinese subtitles.

Decades of overdevelopment, illegal hunting and frequent human activities in the mountains have caused the Taiwan Black Bear’s near extinction. Since 2008, the experienced mountaineer/director Mai led his team to document Professor Huang Mei-show, the only researcher who studied the Taiwan Black Bear deep in the forest, miles away from civilization. Through the film’s visual aesthetics, viewers can explore the beauty of the Taiwanese mountains, get a sense of the research and filming teams’ passion for the bears, and the painful ordeal bears all over the world experience.

Twelve Nights 2: Back to Day Zero《十二夜2：回到第零天》, dir: Raye, 2020, 93 mins, in Mandarin with English and Chinese subtitles

US Premiere

Film synopsis:

Since the documentary film “Twelve Nights” was released in 2013, regulators have rushed ahead to pass the No-Kill policy in public shelters in Taiwan, terminating the twelve nights law. However, the real problem of stray dogs has not yet been resolved.

“Twelve Nights 2: Back to Day Zero” is the follow up sequel that steps out of the older shelters and into different corners of Taiwanese society, delving back to the original source of Taiwan’s stray dog problem. The film invites audiences to explore ‘spay & neuter’, ‘animal shelter systems’ and ‘life education’ through the actions of animal welfare charities and shelters in Taiwan. It reveals the true cause and effect between humans and stray dogs. As part of the investigation, the team also travelled to the United States, Japan and Austria to learn from the experiences of those countries, with the hope of engaging more people in creating a fairer and better solution for animal welfare.

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The 2021 Freedom Crossing Film Festival presents Crossing Love and Nature: an open exploration of the world and our place in it. We present 5 documentaries exploring the joys and pains we experience crossing through life and the natural world. The 2021 FCFF begins with a story of pushing the boundaries of the human body (JUMP! Men) in dialogue with a journey of perseverance and growth as children complete a 1,200 km bike tour of Taiwan (Cycling Angels). We then delve into the interaction of human society and nature, from devotion to preserving a rare endemic species (Formosan B.B. is Coming) to the societal and ethical implications of stray dogs (Twelve Nights 2). Finally, we consider what it means to be human in dialogue with the sea (Whale Island).

Penn faculty and students can receive a discounted registration. Contact CEAS for more details