Film critic Paige Lim profiles Taiwanese film director Hsaio Ya-chuan for his upcoming movie 'Father to Son'

Paige Lim profiles Taiwanese film director Hsaio Ya-chuan for his upcoming movie 'Father to Son'

Taipei Times feature story published February 24, 2018

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/feat/archives/2018/02/24/2003688129

(Bedok, Singapore)

''Like father, like son''

After an eight-year absence from the silver screen, 

Taiwanese filmmaker Hsiao Ya-chuan returns with 

his third feature, a sprawling intergenerational 

drama that explores the relationship 

between a father and son

By Paige Lim  /  Contributing reporter

Cast members Samuel Koo , Michael JQ Huang , Hsiao Ya-chuan and Aria Wang at the world premiere of Father to Son at recently-concluded International Film Festival Rotterdam.

photo courtesy of Hsiao Ya-chuan

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Growing up, Taiwanese filmmaker Hsiao Ya-chuan (蕭雅全) shared a rocky relationship with his father. Solemn and overly frugal, his father was consumed with saving money, and faced difficulties communicating with his children, recalls the now 50-year-old.

“He was a very thrifty person because he grew up in very poor circumstances. But he didn’t know how to talk about his inner emotions, about his own sorrow and happiness, as though his entire life had been repressed by the lack of money,” Hsiao says.

Paige Lim Author Note and Photo:
https://iffr.com/en/blog/young-film-critics-2018

Ms. Paige Lim has an undergraduate degree in Communication Studies from the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, where she majored in journalism. She has a strong passion for Asian cinema, and was a participant of the Campus at the 19^th Far East Film Festival in Udine, Italy, as well as the Youth Jury & Critics Programme at the 28^th Singapore International Film Festival this year. She was previously an intern correspondent at Reuterscovering business news, and has reported on lifestyle, arts and entertainment at The Straits Times, Singapore’s most widely read broadsheet newspaper. She has also contributed features and reviews on Asian filmmakers and film to online sites Asia Times and Eastern Kicks. During her last semester in university, Paige visited South Korea twice; once to report on the changing cultural and social landscape in Seoul after President Moon Jae-in’s election, and the second to attend the 22^nd Busan International Film Festival, where she interviewed international programmers and filmmakers, and produced a multimedia feature on the festival’s Asian and Korean cinema programming.