The Ministry of Foreign Affair's 6th Trending Taiwan Short Film Competition is accepting entries from June 15 to July 31. This year, in addition to the existing open category, which encourages entries that showcase Taiwan's unique local stories, a new pandemic-prevention category has been added. MOFA invites all Republic of China (Taiwan) citizens and foreign nationals in Taiwan to creatively record Taiwan's beauty or present your special take on Taiwan's antipandemic efforts. Submit a short film, no longer than three minutes, to show the world your definition of Trending Taiwan!
There are no restrictions on filming methods or video format, and all forms, from dramas and documentaries to animations and music videos, are welcome. Films will be judged on a variety of criteria, including script creativity, theme and content, narrative technique, and technical aspects, such as camera work and editing techniques. The total prize pool is NT$830,000.
For the open category, the first-place winner will be awarded a cash prize of NT$200,000, the two second-place winners will receive NT$60,000 each, the three third-place winners NT$30,000 each, and the six honorable mention award winners NT$20,000 each.
For the new pandemic-prevention category, in order to encourage foreign contestants to share Taiwan's experience combating COVID-19, submissions will be divided into a local contestant group and a foreign contestant group. One first-place winner, one second-place winner, and one third-place winner will be selected from each group. The two first-place winners will be awarded a cash prize of NT$80,000 each, the two second-place winners NT$50,000 each, and the two third-place winners NT$20,000 each.
MOFA created the Trending Taiwan YouTube channel in July 2015 to actively promote digital diplomacy. Short film competitions are held every year and foreign language subtitles are added to winning submissions, which are then transmitted to the world via media platforms including MOFA's official website, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and Instagram.
This annual competition has been held for the past five years, with the total number of submissions now surpassing 400. Contestants include friends hailing from all corners of the globe, including France, India, Malaysia, and Switzerland. The themes and genres of the submissions have been diverse and innovative, making this government-held competition an annual highlight for short creative films.
There are no restrictions on age or nationality to enter. The films submitted must be original works and must not exceed three minutes (including opening and credits). Film aspect ratios must be 16:9, with a minimum resolution of 1920 x 1080 (1080p).
Visit the Trending Taiwan Short Film Competition website for more details:
Chinese website: https://web.cheers.com.tw/trending-taiwan/2020/index.html
English website: https://web.cheers.com.tw/trending-taiwan/2020/en_index.html (E)
