東南亞短片節25日登場 播映4部台灣作品
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2021東南亞短片節25日登場，活動將以線上方式舉行，期間將播映4部台灣作品。（主辦單位提供） (圖：中央社)
2021東南亞短片節今天(25日)登場，受到疫情影響，今年活動再度以線上方式舉行，8月25日至9月2日期間將播映來自台灣、越南、馬來西亞、新加坡、柬埔寨、泰國、日本等的60部短片。
在文化部及駐馬來西亞台北經濟文化辦事處文化組推動下，今年活動將播映4部台灣金穗獎短片，促進台馬文化交流。金穗獎創辦於1978年，目的為鼓勵新銳創作者，是備受台灣影壇關注的指標性競賽，也是不少台灣重要影人的搖籃，包括知名導演李安、蔡明亮等人。
第5屆東南亞短片節將於8月25日至9月2日舉行，主辦單位表示，將以「No Home Movies」短片觀摩單元播映4部金穗獎短片。
這4部作品中，「回流」運用3D掃描技術將導演胡鈞荃自己及對緬甸華人母親的記憶拼湊起來，以尋找自己出身的背景；「季候風」則像是一封省思離家經驗的長情家書；「入世」講述的是印尼看護成為台灣傳統喪禮家屬代表的故事；「女兒牆」以獨角戲方式側寫外籍配偶在台的婚姻心路歷程。
由於2019冠狀病毒疾病（COVID-19）疫情持續肆虐，今年活動將延續去年做法，以線上方式進行，播放來自台灣、越南、馬來西亞、新加坡、柬埔寨、菲律賓、緬甸、泰國、印尼、日本等國家的60部短片。
東南亞短片節（SeaShorts Film Festival）由馬來西亞著名電影導演陳翠梅女士於2017年創辦，希望透過引進大量東南亞短片到馬來西亞放映以促進文化交流。每年主要活動項目包括短片競賽、短片觀摩、論壇及工作坊等。
東南亞短片節舉辦至今已放映超過420部短片，前3 屆短片節分別在馬來西亞國內3個不同城市舉辦。短片節是東南亞短片協會（SeaShorts Film Society）舉辦的年度大型活動之一，協會宗旨是希望以短片作為媒介促進東南亞不同文化間的欣賞與理解，以及展示優秀的短片作品。
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Taiwan manages to grab BioNTech vaccine ‘abandoned’ by China
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TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) on Wednesday (Aug. 25) revealed that the Pfizer–BioNTech (BNT) COVID-19 vaccine will arrive ahead of schedule despite Chinese labeling after Taiwan was able to wrestle away a shipment away from a third country.
Health Minister and CECC head Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) announced that the first batch of BioNTech doses is scheduled to arrive in late August, a month earlier than the original tentative delivery date. Chen said that Taiwan will accept the doses despite the fact that they are labeled with the name of BioNTech’s Chinese partner Fosun Pharma and the shot’s official brand name Comirnaty, both of which the government had expressly stated it did not want to be included on the packaging.
The vials and packaging are printed with simplified the Chinese characters 复必泰 (Comirnaty) and 复星医药 (Fosun Pharma) because the batch had originally been destined for another country. Chen said that although the labels are different from the originally agreed-upon parameters, the government will still accept the doses for the sake of expediency, provided they are shipped directly to Taiwan and that the quality is confirmed.
He said that after the doses arrive, they will be inspected and sealed by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and will only be distributed if they meet the safety standards.
Alluding to efforts to secure an early batch of the vaccines in Europe, Chen said that the government is grateful to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), Foxconn’s YongLin Foundation, and the Tzu Chi Foundation for “working so hard during this period in Europe to strive for this early supply of vaccines for the Taiwanese people.”
On Wednesday, UDN reported that during his visit to the Czech Republic, Foxconn founder Terry Gou (郭台銘) realized that European countries were competing for a shipment of the vaccine. He engaged in the bidding process and apparently succeeded in securing a large batch for Taiwan ahead of schedule, with the original labels still intact. According to the report, an estimated 1.5 to 2 million doses will be part of the first wave later this month.
Reuters reported Wednesday that 1 million doses of the BioNTech vaccine will be headed to Taiwan in late August due to a delay in regulatory approval in China. The report cited a source as saying “Shanghai Fosun did not manage to get approval so they gave up their plan for vaccine imports.” The source added that Taiwan will be among a number of countries receiving orders “abandoned” by China.
According to the Liberty Times, Turkey was originally to receive 3 million doses of the vaccine rejected by China. However, it cited a high-level official as stating that the CECC was able to negotiate for nearly 2 million doses from the batch originally bound for Turkey.
The official said that the jabs will likely be delivered to Taiwan sometime between the end of August and early September. The precise shipment date is still pending approval by the European Union, according to the official.