Event

From the event organizers: "Freedom Crossing Film Festival (FCFF) is a stage for storytelling and that nourishes free dialogue across all kinds of boundaries. Over the past two years, we have celebrated a diversity of voices from East Asia. Last year, we included 16 films and documentaries representing 8 languages, 8 countries, and 16 forms of religious expression to explore how religious freedom is practiced in Asia. This year, we explore the natural world and our place in it through Crossing Love and Nature, a series of 5 documentaries touching on themes including human perseverance and our love for animals and wilderness. In this workshop, FCFF curator Minghua Hsiao will share how these films were selected and put into dialogue with one another.

To help frame the mission of FCFF, we are also honored to host Hao Jian ( professor at the Beijing Film Academy, film critic, screenwriter) and Wang Shi (Chief Marketing Officer of Activator Co., Ltd and film producer). We welcome these two distinguished speakers to discuss how the Taiwanese film industry aligns with FCFF’s mission to support freedom of expression through independent films and documentaries, and to share authentic voices and experiences from a range of different faiths, cultures, and histories."

Dialogue with Hao Jian and Wang Shi will be Saturday, November 13th, at 7:30pm EST. Register for workshop HERE

The following film will be also be available streaming from Friday 7pm EDT to Sunday 7pm EST:

Whale Island《男人與他的海》, Chia-chun HUANG, 2020, 108 mins, in Mandarin with English and Chinese subtitles

Film synopsis:

Although Taiwan is an island surrounded by the sea, many of its people fear and turn their backs on the sea for reasons rooted in politics, history and religious beliefs. In Whale Island, LIAO Hong-ji, a writer of marine literature and Ray CHIN, the underwater photographer, invite the audience back into the sea. Their hope is for us to better understand the ocean and reconsider the connection between the people of Taiwan and the sea.

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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.