The 15th Taiwan International Documentary Festival Announces Competition Finalists

2026/02/24 15:33

Hosted by the Taiwan Film and Audiovisual Institute (TFAI), the 15th Taiwan International Documentary Festival (TIDF) will take place from May 1 to May 10, 2026. Today, the shortlist for the Asian Vision Competition, International Competition, Taiwan Competition, and the cross-section TIDF Visionary Award was announced. Films across the sections will compete for a total of 1.75 million NTD ($55,000 USD) in prize money. Taiwanese directors from across the various competitions gathered on-site, engaging in lively and warm exchanges after the event.

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Arthur CHU, Chairman of the TFAI, stated in his opening remarks, "Founded in 1998, TIDF has now entered its 15th edition. After years of dedicated effort, it has become one of the largest and most significant international documentary festivals in Asia." In his address, TIDF Curator Wood LIN further norted, "This year, the festival received a record-breaking 2,617 documentary submissions from 153 different countries and territories worldwide. This milestone reflects the international prestige we have built over the years, though it has certainly made the selection process more challenging than ever."

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Taiwan Competition: Testing the Boundaries of Reality

An unprecedented 246 submissions were received for this year's Taiwan Competition. Preliminary selection juror SO Yo-hen, director of Taman-taman (Park), stated, "Participating in the selection process this time was actually quite a daunting task. As a fellow filmmaker, I fully understand the difficulties involved in making every single film. During discussions with the other two jurors, we focused on how creators used imagery in imagining the relationship they share with their environment."

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In particular, the shortlist stands out for the strong presence of women filmmakers, whose numbers are nearly twice that of their male counterparts, bringing a distinct range of perspectives and emotional depth to the program. Colour Ideology Sampling.mov examines how political identities and ideologies become embedded in our perception of color, prompting reflection on labels we often take for granted. Man Mei turns to family photo albums and newly restored images to trace the resilience of Hakka women across turbulent decades. Both Xi Xi and Where the Sea Breeze Blows revolve around quests for freedom and the process of saying goodbye to loved ones; the latter has also been selected for the Asian Vision Competition.

Many of the selected films draw on personal and family histories. Shot over ten years, SPI follows an Atayal family as they navigate contemporary life while striving to reconnect with their cultural roots. LA PALOMA reconstructs the story of a family scarred by the White Terror, weaving together interviews and archival materials to confront long-silenced trauma. Making its world premiere, Scenes from Departure unfolds through video calls between father and son, attempting to articulate emotions long left unspoken.

While some works explore the experiences of “others,” they simultaneously reflect local stories of Taiwan. Mrs. Islets captures, with a quiet and unadorned gaze, the endurance of women’s labor on a small island in Penghu. Between the Shores portrays the bittersweet homecomings of migrant workers and their steadfast devotion to family. Where Clouds Once Formed probes the environmental costs and resource pressures underlying Taiwan’s high-tech industries. Finally, drawing on Taiwan’s coal-mining past, The Tales of the Tale revisits ghost stories told by retired miners, uncovering the harsh labor conditions and history of occupational disasters that shaped an era.

Several entries push documentary form in bold new directions. Shot on 9.5mm film, Amateur in the Moon unfolds as a poetic love letter to cinema itself. Structured as an exchange of letters, Jouhatsu Letters traces the inner landscapes and daily craft experiments of two filmmakers living in different countries during the pandemic. In Bone Always Outlasts Feather, sound moves from background element to central subject, resonating with the mythology and natural soundscapes of the Indigenous Bunun people. Paper Houses and Horses, set within the routines of a funeral home, blends fiction and nonfiction through a highly sensory approach, offering a compassionate meditation on the “nameless” and those who die alone in the context of Taiwan’s contemporary funeral culture.

 

International Competition and Asian Vision: The Power of Truth in the Face of Adversity

Beyond the Taiwan Competition, this year’s Asian Vision Competition brings together 15 outstanding films from across Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, India, Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, Iran, Afghanistan, and beyond. The selection reflects the breadth and complexity of contemporary Asia, foregrounding deeply rooted local perspectives and lived realities. The International Competition likewise presents 15 films from Europe, North America, South America, Africa, and Asia. Addressing urgent themes such as war and displacement, historical trauma, identity, and marginalized communities, the lineup captures the tensions and transformations shaping today’s world. Finally, the TIDF Visionary Award, includes 18 distinguished Chinese-speaking regions documentaries from China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and beyond. 

Several films emerge directly from regions marked by war and political upheaval, where filmmakers continue to bear witness under extraordinary circumstances. Set against the backdrop of the Russia–Ukraine war, A Simple Soldier and In Limbo offer intimate frontline perspectives. Kabul, Between Prayers and With Hasan in Gaza turn their gaze to Afghanistan and Gaza, documenting daily life amid instability and loss.

The program also features new works by filmmakers well known to festival audiences. Myanmar-born director Midi Z returns with Cherry Ferry, while Thai filmmaker Thunska Pansittivorakul presents Isan Odyssey, and Cambodian director LY Polen unveils Until the Orchid. The collaboration between TRƯƠNG Minh Quý and Nicolas GRAUX, Hair, Paper, Water…, will be screened in the International Competition.

Other highlights include deeply committed, long-term observational works such as Flophouse America and The Prince of Nanawa, which use the passage of time to the authenticity of everyday life. Formal experimentation also distinguishes many entries: Masayume incorporates elements of physical theater; Afterlives adopts the desktop documentary format; and Air Base draws on performance art. From Hong Kong, Compact Disc and Map of Traces—both also shortlisted for the TIDF Visionary Award—probe the scars of memory through striking visual language.

 

This preliminary selection committee for this year’s TIDF includes prominent curators, scholars, film critics, filmmakers, and festival representatives. Three committee members served in selecting films for the Taiwan Competition: SU Ui-tiok, CHAN Tze-woon, and SO Yo-Hen. Meanwhile, fourteen committee members served in selecting films across competition categories: HUANG Yi-ying (Annpo), Ar Nam HO, LIN Chung-Mou, HONG Jien-Luan, HUNG Wei-lin, Timmy Chih-ting CHEN, CHEN Huei-Yin, CHAO Cheng-Yuan, YEN Wang-Yun, Ruby HSIEH I Hsuan, HSIEH Chia-chin, SU Ming-Yen, and festival representatives Wood LIN and CHEN Wan-ling. 

 

The 15th TIDF will be held from May 1st to 10th of this year, with screenings at TFAI, SPOT - Huashan, Taiwan Contemporary Culture Lab (C-Lab), and other sites, bringing together 140 outstanding films from at home and abroad. In addition to screenings and discussions, there will also be lecture-performances, listening sessions, and similar events, all with the aim of enriching audiences’ conception of documentary through rich and diverse programming. More information regarding events and programming will be released on a rolling basis. Stay tuned to the TIDF official website, Facebook page, X, and Instagram for updates.

 

2026 TIDF Competition Finalists

Asian Vision Competition

  • Air Base 
    LI Luo｜Canada

  • Cherry Ferry
    Midi Z｜Taiwan

  • Compact Disc （Asian Premiere）
    Rico WONG｜Hong Kong, United Kingdom

  • CycleMahesh
    Suhel BANERJEE｜India

  • I Was, I Am, and I Will Be!
    ITAKURA Yoshiyuki｜Japan

  • I, Poppy
    Vivek CHAUDHARY｜India, France

  • Isan Odyssey
    Thunska PANSITTIVORAKUL｜Thailand

  • Map of Traces（Asian Premiere）
    CHAN Hau-chun｜Hong Kong

  • Masayume
    YOSHIGAI Nao｜Japan

  • Noise: Unwanted Sound 
    JUNG Hyejin｜Netherlands, South Korea

  • Paikar
    Dawood HILMANDI｜Netherlands

  • Until the Orchid Blooms
    LY Polen｜Cambodia

  • What Did You Dream Last Night, Parajanov?
    Faraz FESHARAKI｜Germany

  • Where the Sea Breeze Blows
    CHEN Shao-chun｜Taiwan

  • Writing Hawa
    Najiba NOORI, Rasul NOORI｜France, Netherlands, Qatar, Afghanistan

International Competition

  • A Simple Soldier（Asian Premiere）
    Artem RYZHYKOV, Juan Camilo CRUZ｜Ukraine, United States, United Kingdom

  • Afterlives
    Kevin B. LEE｜Germany, France, Belgium

  • Flophouse America（Asian Premiere）
    Monica STRØMDAHL｜Norway, Netherlands, United States

  • Good Valley Stories
    José Luis GUERIN｜Spain, France

  • Hair, Paper, Water…
    TRƯƠNG Minh Quý, Nicolas GRAUX｜Belgium, France, Vietnam

  • In Limbo
    Alina MAKSIMENKO｜Poland

  • Kabul, Between Prayers（Asian Premiere）
    Aboozar AMINI｜Netherlands, Belgium

  • Nocturnes
    Anupama SRINIVASAN, Anirban DUTTA｜India, United States

  • Past Future Continuous（Asian Premiere）
    Morteza AHMADVAND, Firouzeh KHOSROVANI｜Iran, Norway, Italy

  • The Broken R （Asian Premiere）
    Ricardo Ruales EGUIGUREN｜Ecuador, Italy

  • The Memory of Butterflies 
    Tatiana Fuentes SADOWSKI｜Peru, Portugal

  • The Prince of Nanawa
    Clarisa NAVAS｜Argentina, Paraguay, Colombia, Germany

  • The Travelers
    David BINGONG｜Cameroon, Spain

  • These Wild Cats
    Steve PATRY｜Canada

  • With Hasan in Gaza
    Kamal ALJAFARI｜Germany, Palestine, France, QatarTaiwan Competition

  • Amateur in the Moon
    HUANG Pang-chuan, Chunni LIN｜Taiwan

  • Between the Shores
    CHENG Chih-ming, Lily HUANG｜Taiwan

  • Bone Always Outlasts Feather
    Yannick DAUBY｜Taiwan

  • Colour Ideology Sampling.mov
    CHAN Cheuk-sze, Kathy WONG｜Hong Kong, Taiwan

  • Jouhatsu Letters
    Johan CHANG, Masa KUDO

  • LA PALOMA
    LU Yuan-chi｜Taiwan

  • Man Mei
    Caitlin ‘Sonny’ SHIEH｜Taiwan

  • Mrs. Islets
    CHEN Wei-cih｜Taiwan

  • Paper Houses and Horses
    An CHU｜Taiwan

  • Scenes from Departure  （World Premiere）
    Ray Kam-hei CHAN｜Taiwan, Hong Kong

  • SPI
    Sayun Simung｜ Taiwan

  • The Tales of the Tale
    SONG Cheng-ying, HU Chin-ya｜Taiwan

  • Where Clouds Once Formed （Asian Premiere）
    SU Yu Hsin｜Taiwan

  • Where the Sea Breeze Blows
    CHEN Shao-chun｜Taiwan

  • XiXi
    WU Fan｜Taiwan, Philippines, South Korea

TIDF Visionary Award

  • Air Base （Asian Premiere）
    LI Luo｜Canada

  • As a Bird That Briefly Perches 
    Dorothy CHEUNG｜Hong Kong, United Kingdom

  • Colour Ideology Sampling.mov
    CHAN Cheuk-sze, Kathy WONG｜Hong Kong, Taiwan

  • Compact Disc  （Asian Premiere）
    Rico WONG｜Hong Kong, United Kingdom

  • Confessions of a Mole  （Asian Premiere）
    TAN Mo｜Poland, China

  • Farewell, My Nest （World Premiere）
    CHEN Junhua｜Singapore

  • In a Minute （International Premiere）
    Sammi Sum-yi CHIU｜Hong Kong

  • Island Fever 
    PAN Lu｜South Korea, Hong Kong

  • Map of Traces  （Asian Premiere）
    CHAN Hau-chun｜Hong Kong

  • Mrs. Islets
    CHEN Wei-cih｜Taiwan

  • Paper Houses and Horses
    An CHU｜Taiwan

  • Scenes from Departure  （World Premiere）
    Ray Kam-hei CHAN｜Taiwan, Hong Kong

  • The Tales of the Tale
    SONG Cheng-ying, HU Chin-ya｜Taiwan

  • To Alexandra   （Asian Premiere）
    CUI Yi｜China, Canada, United States

  • Where Clouds Once Formed  （Asian Premiere）
    SU Yu Hsin｜Taiwan

  • Where the Sea Breeze Blows
    CHEN Shao-chun｜Taiwan

  • Xiangzidian Village: The Stage  （World Premiere）
    HU Sanshou｜China

  • XiXi
    WU Fan｜Taiwan, Philippines, South Korea