Taiwan, a Hub for Connecting the World

The number of countries and territories represented at this year’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) international short film competition, “#FindingTAIWAN_2.0,” nearly doubled from the inaugural competition, and almost 80% of the entries came from foreign creators, including filmmakers from the United States, Hong Kong, the United Kingdom, France, Australia, Poland, and South Africa. Such close ties between Taiwan and the world aptly reflected the theme, “Where We Connect.”

To mark the 50th anniversary of Taiwan Panorama, which is published under MOFA, three Taiwan Panorama Special Awards were also introduced this year.

In search of heartfelt stories
Speaking at the ceremony on behalf of Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs François Chihchung Wu said: “The past decade has been a time for the world to seek out and rediscover Taiwan.” In this competition, too, creators offered fresh perspectives on Taiwan through technology, culture, and other aspects of life.

Competition judge Yenlyn, known as “Ms. Potato,” noted that some creators approached their stories through friendships, others through family. Some initially knew little about the country, yet ultimately found a connection with it—no easy achievement.

Fellow judge and film director Jay Chern observed: “The films that leave the deepest impression are not necessarily the most technically complex. Rather, they are the ones that are sincere, have a personal touch, and are able to show what makes Taiwan unique.”

The Most Beautiful Scenery in Taiwan, by Caleb Chen (right) and Sam Leung (center), won the Grand Prize.

Taiwan’s beauty: The people who love this land
The Grand Prize winner neatly embodied what the judges had observed in the films.

The Most Beautiful Scenery in Taiwan, made by Caleb Chen and Sam Leung, opens with a question: “What is the most beautiful scenery in Taiwan?” Is it the mountains and sea so readily within reach, the crowded night markets, or the countless kinds of foods? In their view: “What makes a place beautiful is the people who love it so fiercely. They are willing, unconditionally and regardless of the consequences, to fight with everything they have to protect the values and memories they cherish, and to grow alongside this place. That is what makes it truly shine.”

Chen, from Taiwan, and Leung, from Hong Kong, both graduated from National Chiao Tung University. They took an active interest in political and social issues during their university years, and made a point of filming at the National Human Rights Museum. “We can now look back at Taiwan’s history in an environment of freedom. That is something well worth sharing with more people,” they say.

A bicycle’s Taiwan connections
American creator Thomas Brackett Martenstein, known in Chinese as Meng Boming, tells a moving story in Taiwanese Iron Horse. Born in the Year of the Horse, he received a Taiwan-made Pacific bicycle from his family as a Christmas present when he was six.

Later, he read Wu Ming-Yi’s novel The Stolen Bicycle, in which a man sets out to find his father’s bicycle. The story inspired him to make his own film about a search for a bicycle.

Martenstein, who won first prize in the Taiwan Panorama Special Award category, says his curiosity was sparked by Taiwan Panorama’s October 2024 feature on Taiwan’s bicycle industry. On a visit to the Pacific Cycles Museum he discovered that Taiwanese bicycle companies cooperate as well as compete, and he incorporated that discovery into his film. He also learned about the global reach of Taiwanese bicycle parts suppliers: “Whether or not a bicycle carries a ‘Made in Taiwan’ label, it is very likely to have parts that come from Taiwan.”

Inspired by Taiwanese bicycles, Thomas Brackett Martenstein’s prize-winning short film connects his own life story with Taiwan’s manufacturing sector.

Now settled in Taiwan, Martenstein also told us that he had lived in many places, including Germany, France, and Morocco, before coming here. He first set foot in Asia eight years ago. As a gay man, he was deeply moved to see Taiwan’s LGBTQ community take to the streets to demand marriage equality, and decided to make Taiwan his home. “Taiwan really changed my life,” he says.

Thomas Brackett Martenstein’s Taiwanese Iron Horse was shown at Taiwan Panorama 50 Through Photography—Taiwan in Focus, an exhibition of 50 years of the magazine’s images. (photo by Lin Min-hsuan)

Life’s turning points in Taiwan
Healing through the Taiwan Loop documents the warmth and kindness that American Brendan Sutton encountered on a journey around Taiwan, helping him heal as he grieved the recent loss of a family member.

Team Nitro’s Written in Taiwan features a young woman who has come to Taiwan to learn Chinese. Through idioms, expressions, and proverbs she has learned—such as “Remember the tree when you eat the fruit” (meaning “remember where you come from”), “lively, bustling, and full of life,” “the warmth between people,” “Every blade of grass has a drop of dew,” (meaning, “everyone here has a place”) and “Those connected [by destiny] will meet even across a thousand miles apart”—she offers an affectionate commentary on life in Taiwan.

Taiwan’s Champagne-Rice Valley captures the premium quality rice grown in Chishang, Taitung County, where filmmaker Reece Andrew Ayers paused on his journey around Taiwan.

The encounters between the makers of the competition’s 13 award-winning films and Taiwan were sometimes carefully planned and sometimes unfolded by chance. In any case, the creators found in Taiwan—with its warmth, rich products, magnificent scenery, and cultural depth—a vital point of connection from which to expand the horizons of their lives. As the event’s theme “Where We Connect” suggests, the world can turn with grace around the hub that is our island.

Twenty-five entries reached the final round of the “#FindingTAIWAN_2.0: Where We Connect” international short film competition, with 13 winning awards.