Chiang Hsiu-chiung’s debut film Artemisia wins SFIFF’s Golden Gate Award

On May 6th, Taiwan's film director Chiang Hsiu-chiung was honored by the San Francisco International Film Festival (SFIFF) with a Golden Gate Award in the Television Narrative Feature category for her debut film Artemisia. Upon receiving the award, Chiang thanked the festival organizers for the award, the Public Television Service in Taiwan for giving her the opportunity to direct, and the Press Division of TECO for its support.

Chiang is no stranger to SFIFF. As a graduate student in theater and screenwriting at the Taipei National University of the Arts, Chiang Hsiu-chiung delivered a Golden Horse-nominated performance in Edward Yang’s epic A Brighter Summer Day (SFIFF 1992). At the 52nd festival, audiences were able to enjoy Chiang’s talent again, this time from behind the scenes, as the director of Artemisia.

Chiang’s well-script narrative is about three generations of resilient women, focusing on 58-year old Ai-tsao (Artemisia in Chinese). As a young woman, Ai-tsao defied her conservative family to marry a man some 20 years older than her. Twenty years later, she finds herself struggling to accept her argumentative mother, her unmarried daughter’s mixed-race baby and her closeted gay son. Amid all the turmoil, she works towards accepting and preserving her family.