Taiwanese filmmaker Hsiao Mei-ling (蕭美玲) has won the Directors Guild of Japan Award for her documentary “Parallel World” (平行世界) at the biennial Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival (YIDFF).
The award ceremony was held Wednesday in Yamagata Prefecture, according to a National Taipei University of Education news release Saturday.
Hsiao, who teaches at the university’s Department of Arts and Design, is also known for “Somewhere Over the Cloud” (雲的那端), a documentary that won a special mention in the New Asian Currents Awards category at the YIDFF in 2007.
In her acceptance speech, Hsiao said she was happy to be back at Yamagata, and that her dream of winning another award at the festival had finally come to fruition.
“Parallel World,” which took 12 years to make, chronicles the special bond between Hsiao and her daughter, Elodie, who has Asperger’s syndrome. The film, directed by Hsiao, shows how she accompanies her daughter in the process of self-seeking, self-recognition and finding a way out.
The festival was first held in 1989 and recognizes achievements in documentary filmmaking, as well as aiming to promote and popularize the genre. The event this year was held Oct. 5-12.
Source: Focus Taiwan
