Chicharon

What will our lives be like 10 years from now? Five up and coming Taiwanese directors each offer their own take in answering this question. In 2028, Taiwan is suffering from nuclear waste (“The Can of Anido”), migrant workers (“942”), industrial collapse (“Way Home”), low birth rates and diversity in families (“A Making-Of”), and insomnia (“The Sleep”).

Docked at the port of Kaohsiung, Filipino seaman Arnie buys a ring with the help of his mates, to propose to his girlfriend back home. The supposedly happiest moment of his life soon takes a downward spiral when he finds out she is pregnant - but he is not the father of the child.

As she nears the age of 30, Rina still tries to find, with some difficulty, a path to becoming a film director. This year her father Richard, who she misses dearly, sends his favorite animal and Chinese zodiac sign, the tiger, to silently listen and follow his daughter through her unsteady sound of life. Through the medium of film, we distantly imagine what the world was like in the 1950s, when he himself was 30.

Everyone has a secret, and it can hunt like a monster.