THE GREAT BUDDHA+

WRITER & DIRECTOR

HUANG Hsin-Yao

CAST

Cres CHUANG, Bamboo CHEN, Leon DAI

PRODUCER

CHUNG Mong-Hong, YEH Jufeng

GENRE

drama

SYNOPSIS

Pickle is a night security guard at a bronze statue factory, who also plays in a band at the funerals when time allows. Earning a meager income, Pickle lives with his elderly mother. His best friend Belly Button works as a recycling collector during the day, and Pickle’s biggest pleasure in life is flicking through the porn magazines Belly Button collects in the small hours in the security room. Having late night snacks and watching television are an integral part of their dull lives. One day when the television is broken, their lives are changed forever.

At first, they watch the footages recorded on their boss’s dash cam for fun, and soon they get addicted to peeping into the boss’s colorful private life and accidently discover the boss’s unspeakable secret. As a result, a ridiculous chain reaction is triggered, and even the statue of Buddha, ready to be sent to the religious festival, is forced to play a role in this chaotic situation.

FESTIVAL & AWARD

* Taipei Film Festival – International New Talent Competition: Audience Choice Award
* Taipei Film Awards – Grand Prize, Best Narrative Feature, Outstanding Artistic Contribution Awards: Music, Editing, Art Direction
* Toronto International Film Festival – Discovery, NETPAC Award
* Vancouver International Film Festival – Dragons & Tigers
* Busan International Film Festival – A Window On Asian Cinema
* Kaohsiung Film Festival – Long vs. Short Film
* Tokyo International Film Festival – World Focus
* Golden Horse Awards – won Best New Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Original Film Score, Best Original Film Song; nominated for Best Feature Film, Best Supporting Actor (Leon Dai), Best Art Direction, Best Film Editing, Best Sound Effects
* Hawaii International Film Festival – Spotlight
* San Diego Asian Film Festival – Discoveries
* Hong Kong Asian Film Festival – New Talent Award
* International Film Festival of India – International Competition
* Singapore International Film Festival – Competition
* Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival – Forum
* Chennai International Film Festival – World Cinema
* Palm Springs International Film Festival – World Cinema Now
* Pune International Film Festival
* Tromsø International Film Festival – Competition
* Black Movie Geneva International Independent Film Festival – Sympathy for Mr. Vengence
* Victoria Film Festival
* Portland International Film Festival – New Directors
* CinemAsia – Competition, Best First Time Director
* Vilnius Film Festival – Discoveries
* Asian Film Awards – won Best Sound; nominated for Best New Director, Best Music, Best Cinematography
* Habitat International Film Festival
* New Directors/New Films
* East Asia Film Festival Ireland
* Buenos Aires International Festival of Independent Cinema – Avant-Garde & Genre Competition
* Hong Kong Film Awards – Best Film From Mainland and Taiwan
* IndieLisboa – Mouth of Madness
* Cines Del Sur – Festival de Granada, Spain – Bronze Alhambra
* Cinetopia Film Festival, Michigan USA
* Sydney Film Festival
* EstAsia Cinema d’Oriente, Reggio Emilia, Italy
* Art Film Fest Košice – Eastern Promises
* Edinburgh International Film Festival – World Perspectives, Best International Feature Competition
* Vancouver Taiwanese Film Festival
* Filmfest München – CineVision Competition: Special Mention
* Melbourne International Film Festival
* FIN Atlanta International Film Festival
* Focus On Asia Fukuoka International Film Festival
* Lychee International Film Festival – Best Film, Best Director
* Pacific Meridian International Film Festival, Vladivostok, Russia – Competition; won Best Director
* Cape Town International Film Festival – Best Cinematography
* Brisbane International Film Festival
* St. Louis International Film Festival
* Asian World Film Festival, USA – Competition
* London East Asia Film Festival
* OzAsia Festival, Australia
* Films From the South, Norway – New Directors Competition

ABOUT THE DIRECTOR

As a documentary filmmaker, HUANG Hsin-Yao is known for the satirical tone used to portray the dream and the disappointment of youth and the humorous narrative that enhances the preposterous situations one often faces in life. BLUFFING (2005) won Best Documentary at the Golden Harvest Awards. His visual poem, NIMBUS, shot by himself, won the Jury Prize at the 2010 Taiwan International Documentary Biennale, Best Cinematography at the Golden Harvest Awards and several other international film awards. In 2010, Taivalubagged the Grand Prize and Best Documentary at the Taipei Film Awards. THE GREAT BUDDHA is HUANG Hsin-Yao’s first narrative short film, nominated for Best Live Action Short Film at the 2015 Golden Horse Awards. In 2015, he made CLOUD NATION, the first Taiwanese documentary that has no narrative, no dialogue, no narration, no music and no protagonist. The 57-minute documentary consists of only 55 shots, depicting the moods of an island with pure image.