A Holy Family 神人之家

12 Feb

Taiwan, France / 2022 / Colour / 88 min / In Taiwanese (Hokkien), Chinese Mandarin with Chinese and English subtitles/ Dir. Elvis A Liang LU

2023 / 03 / 24 (FRI) - 18:45
This film is being played as part of A Mirror Image : Hong Kong X Taiwan Documentaries parallel programme, Whispers with Flowing Stories
** Pre-recorded Post-screening Q&A
Genesis Cinema BOOK NOW
2023 / 03 / 25 (SAT) - 16:00
This film is being played as part of A Mirror Image : Hong Kong X Taiwan Documentaries parallel programme, Whispers with Flowing Stories
** Pre-recorded Post-screening Q&A
Cameo Picturehouse BOOK NOW

“A Holy Family” is a personal account of A-Liang Elvis Lu’s own return to his family in a rural area of southwestern Taiwan after 24 years of absence. It explores the conflicts A-Liang has with his family with their religious practices, superstitions, and what he sees as blind beliefs in supposedly life-changing miracles. Carrying with him just a camera, A-Liang is forced to face his own trauma and grudges as he starts to observe the intertwined emotions in his family from the perspective of a filmmaker. It is an intimate journey of home-coming, a portrait of rekindled family bonding despite differences in religious beliefs, and an unflinching tale of self- discovery through filmmaking.

All screenings will feature a pre-recorded post-screening Q&A with Dir. Elvis A-Liang LU.

*1976 in Minxiong (Chiayi County/Taiwan)
Elvis A-Liang Lu is a Taiwanese documentary director. After graduating from the National Taiwan University of the Arts (NTUA), he worked as a director and cameraman on several commercial and independent Taiwanese documentaries. In 2017 he released his first feature-length documentary, The Shepherds, revolving around the story of Taiwan’s first LGBT friendly church. The film competed in the documentary section of the Taipei International Film Festival and was shown in the Sydney World Film Festival and Czech Euro Kino Independent Film Festival. It was also selected as the closing film for Taiwan’s first Queer Film Festival. A Holy Family is his second feature documentary.
Best Edit at Taipei IFF 2022
Best Documentary at Taipei IFF 2022
Audience Choice Award at Taipei IFF 2022
The Grand Prize of the Festival at Taipei IFF 2022
Prix Ciné+ at Fipadoc Biarritz 2023
Visions du Réel 2022, Switzerland
Budapest IDF 2023