My Grandfather's Address in Taipei
Zhang Zanbo
Release year: 2010
Run time: 10 mins
Film type: Documentary
Synopsis
Hosted by the Taipei Cultural Bureau and Taipei Film Commission, the inaugural Cross-Strait Documentary Festival took place in Taipei in November 2010. As a significant component of the festival, each director was commissioned to create a ten-minute documentary about Taipei for the project 'Taipei Impressions.' In "My Grandfather’s Address in Taipei," mainland director Zhang Zanbo visits his late grandfather's former residence in Taipei, recalling and commemorating a family bond that has been fractured by history. Drawing from his personal memories and experiences, the director poignantly conveys the pain and historical tragedy within a mere ten-minute timeframe.
Director biography
Zhang Zanbo is an independent filmmaker in China. He graduated from the Beijing Film Academy in 2005 with a Masters degree, and later established Asymptote Films. Consistently focusing on individual dignity and living conditions in a rapidly developing China, his documentaries have won many awards at international film festivals. His work has been reported by and reviewed in such international media outlets as The New York Times, The Economist, National Public Radio, and NHK.
He is also a freelance non-fiction writer, published in Taiwan and mainland China. His book The Road in traditional Chinese was awarded “The Best Book of 2014” by The China Times. Later, Taiwan President Ma Ying-Jeou presented the 2015 TIBE Book Prize to the author and the book. At the end of 2015, the simplified Chinese version of The Road was selected as the best book in the Sina Good Book Prize. As the book provoked intense discussion in the media and among the general public after its publication in mainland China, it was banned and denied further sale and reprint after two months. The publishing house was severely punished because of its inappropriate publication of this book.