Hennymahamo

Intimate Encounter

Two years post heart transplant, Ah Xun remains unable to shake off the gloom cast over his renewed life. First, there is a house fire; then, an unprecedented pandemic breaks out. Retreating to his grandfather’s home, Ah Xun finds himself persistently haunted by a string of unfortunate events. He is faced with an ex lover’s return, an encounter with the mixed-race sibling neighbours, the harrowing news of his mother’s cancer, his sister’s nervous breakdown, a friend’s drug issues, and now, the news of his grandfather testing positive for the new disease.

Think of You

In Minnan, pineapple rhymes with ‘luck’ and is an auspicious symbol. Carrying a pineapple with him, a young man travels with his mentally handicapped younger brother from their hometown in the provinces to Taipei, where a relative works in a factory. There the brothers witness a scene of labour dispute. Will the pineapple bring them luck after all? After scripting Love Is a Gun (2023), winner of the Lion of the Future award at the Venice International Film Festival 2023, LIN Cheng-hsun presents this new short, a dramatisation of brotherly affection, through a sophisticated command of cinematic and narrative devices.

Born to Be Human

Yang Shi-Nan is a 14-year-old boy who undergoes a metamorphosis without realising what is going on. It begins on a normal school day when he gets stomach cramps. After rushing to the toilet he notices that his urine is turning bloody red. Taken to a doctor he is diagnosed with “Disorders of Sex Development,” or intersex. Without consulting him, Shi-Nan’s parents decide to accept “sex reassignment surgery”, turning Shi-Nan into a female and changing her name to YANG Shi-Lan. The family moves to a new city to start a new life and it all seems to be going well as Shi-Lan blends in and even makes friends. It seems like the butterfly is about to break out of its chrysalis but can Yang Shi-Lan truly embrace her transformation?