Taipei City-based National Palace Museum won five awards, including two platinum and two gold, at the 47th WorldFest-Houston International Film and Video Festival April 12 in Texas, the NPM said.
Awarded the Platinum Remi in the film and video productions category, the animation “Adventures in the NPM: The Formosa Odyssey” showcases Taiwan’s picturesque scenery, unique customs and ecology.
The film features three NPM treasures, the “Jade Duck,” “Jade Pi-hsieh” and “Child Pillow,” which return to Qing dynasty Taiwan to tour such famous scenic spots as Alishan in Chiayi County, southern Taiwan; Anping Old Fort in Tainan City, southern Taiwan; outlying Penghu Islands, and Sun Moon Lake in Nantou County, central Taiwan.
“Qianlong Chao,” which bagged the Platinum Remi in the new media category, records on film a 2013 exhibition blending antiquities from the Qing dynasty Qianlong emperor’s collection with such modern techniques as human motion capture system and face detection and recognition to create an interactive experience for visitors.
According to the NPM, the concept behind the exhibition was that everyone can be a Qianlong in the age of the Internet, with access to content, the ability to create and the right to interpret.
The two gold awards were for the documentary “Rebuilding the Tongan Ships” and “Painting Anime: One Hundred Horses.”
The Tong-an ships were the mainstay of the Qing navy, deployed from China’s northern coastline to the waters off Taiwan to fight pirates and protect traders. The documentary consists of three parts introducing the history of the Tong-an ships, the NPM’s reconstruction of the ships and 3-D visualization of the structure of the ships.
“One Hundred Horses” is a full-size animated painting scroll by Qing court painter Lang Shih-ning, an Italian master aka Giuseppe Castiglione, famous for blending Western and Chinese painting traditions. The work was presented through six high lumen projectors using seamless fusion technology in a 2011 exhibition.
“Painting Anime: Imitating Zhao Bosu’s Latter Ode on the Red Cliff” took a silver award also in the film and video productions category.
The festival, held April 4-13, was founded in 1961 and is one of the three oldest U.S.-based independent film festivals, along with those in New York City and San Francisco, the NPM said. (SDH)