Artists
Photo Credit: NIU Chun-Chiang
CHIANG Hsiu-Chiung
CHIANG Hsiu-Chiung
| Location | France / Paris |
|---|---|
| Residency | Cité Internationale des Arts |
| Year of the Grant | 2015 |
Her drama short film 《Hopscotch》 (2008) has consecutively won numerous awards including Golden Horse Awards, Golden Bell Awards, Golden Harvest Awards and Taipei Film Festival Awards. It also won Best Short Award at the Asia-Pacific Film Festival and was invited to the Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival. Her first TV movie, Artemisia won the Golden Gate Award in the Television Narrative Long Form category at the San Francisco International Film Festival; 《Let The Wind Carry Me》, a documentary about a world-famous cinematographer Mark LEE Ping-bin and the reflection on filmmakers, was co-directed with KWAN Pun-leung, which also won the Grand Prize, Best Editing and Best Documentary at the Taipei Film Festival.
Thoughts on Residency Program
For a filmmaker, Paris is tantamount to a treasure-house since it has inexhaustible supply of hardware and software resources. Films are dedicated to representing a world which really exists, while language is not necessarily the most vital element in this cause. The city’s sophisticated cinemas, along with its audiences who cherish the film culture from the bottom of the heart, offered me enjoyable experiences of going to the cinema despite my poor French. The respect and protection for cinema art afforded by this country from the top down is well worth emulating.
The Cité Internationale des Arts provides the artists-in-residence with considerable flexibility. Except to offer French courses, post exhibition information and host the welcome party on a monthly basis, the Cité neither interferes in nor gets involved with the artists’ creative processes. The artists-in-residence may ask for support from the Cité according to personal needs without compromising their autonomy and independence. They may choose to stay alone and hunker down or to engage actively with people. As far as I’m concerned, the Cité does not confine itself to an artist village, but ingeniously makes all the resources accessible for people in Paris. Artistic and cultural events of all stripes are on view every day, and brilliant artworks can be seen all around this city. Besides, people can exchange ideas with artists from the four corners of the world. I had an impression that almost all the individuals I met in Paris were either artists or arts buffs. So long as you are willing to open your mind, you can nurture yourself at will from this city’s calm, elegant humanistic atmosphere, regardless of whether you attempt to draw inspiration or embark on creation. Every time you need help with your work, someone will always be there for you.