Huang Hui-zhen

Huang Hui-zhen
Born1978 [1]
Taipei, Taiwan
Occupation(s)Director, producer, writer
Years active2006–present
Known forSmall Talk

Huang Hui-zhen (born 1978, Taipei, Taiwan) is a Taiwanese documentary filmmaker.[1]

Early life

At the age of 6, Huang began participating in traditional funeral ceremonies known as Qian Wang Ge Zhen (the Soul-guiding Singing Array) with her mother. Due to her father's long-term domestic violence, her mother took kids away from home. Huang dropped out of school in the third grade and joined her mother in performing funeral rituals across Taiwan to make a living.[2]

Career

In 1998, Taiwanese filmmaker Yang Li-zhou made a documentary about young girls involved in funeral processions, with the 20-year-old Huang as one of the subjects. During the filming, she learned what a documentary was. Huang bought a small home video camera to document her own life. She took a documentary filmmaking course at the New Taipei City Luzhou Community University and became actively involved in social movements.[3]

During her involvement in social activism, Huang created two short documentaries about foreign laborers, Hospital Wing 8 East and Uchan Is Going Home (Chinese: 烏將要回家). At the same time, she kept filming her family, sharing her mother and her story. The Priestess Walks Alone and Small Talk are short and feature-length documentary about their story.[4]

Social participation

In 2016, she participated in the second public hearing on legalizing same-sex marriage organized by the Judicial and Legal Affairs Committee of the Legislative Yuan in Taiwan, where she spoke about her personal family experiences and her support for marriage equality.[2]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes Ref(s)
2006 Hospital Wing 8 East (八東病房） Director, writer Short film
2009 Uchan Is Going Home (烏將要回家） Director Short film
2016 The Priestess Walks Alone (我和我的T媽媽） Director Short film [5][6]
2016 Small Talk (日常對話) Director, executive producer, writer [7]
2020 Loma - Our Home (LOMA - 我們的家) Director n/a [8][9]

Awards

Year Award Category Nominee(s) Result Ref(s)
2009 Labor Film Award International workers Award Uchan Is Going Home Premium [10]
2016 South Award Jury's Award The Priestess Walks Alone Won [11]
Human Rights Award The Priestess Walks Alone Won
53rd Golden Horse Awards Best Documentary Small Talk Nominated
Best Film Editing Jessica Lin Wan-yu Nominated
2017 Berlin International Film Festival Teddy Award for Best Documentary Small Talk Won
17th Chinese Film Media Awards Best Film Small Talk Won

References

  1. ^ a b "Filmmaker | Huang Hui-chen". Ministry of Culture (Taiwan). May 6, 2017. Retrieved 18 November 2024.
  2. ^ a b "【一鏡到底】進不了小學的人 導演黃惠偵專訪之一" [【One shot to the end】Exclusive interview with director Huang Hui-zhen of The Man Who Cannot Enter Elementary School]. Mirror Media (in Chinese). April 17, 2017. Retrieved November 12, 2023.
  3. ^ "【一鏡到底】牽亡的人 導演黃惠偵專訪之二" [【One shot to the end】Exclusive interview with director Huang Hui-zhen of The Man Who Led the Dead Part 2]. Mirror Media (in Chinese). April 17, 2017. Retrieved November 12, 2023.
  4. ^ "用一輩子，換拍一家庭紀錄片——專訪《日常對話》導演黃惠偵" [A lifetime for a family documentary--exclusive interview with Huang Hui-zhen, director of "Daily Dialogue"]. BIOS monthly (in Chinese). 21 November 2016. Retrieved November 12, 2023.
  5. ^ Lin, Sherry (August 27, 2018). "What My Lesbian Mother Taught Me: An Interview with Director Huang Hui-chen". The Taiwan Gazette. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
  6. ^ "我和我的T媽媽 The Priestess Walks Alone". Priestesswalksalone.WordPress.com. October 1, 2019. Retrieved 17 November 2024. (Official website)
  7. ^ "片單介紹 (日常對話)" [List of Films (Small Talk)]. Women Make Waves International Film Festival (in Chinese). Retrieved November 12, 2023.
  8. ^ Wu, Wan-Ting (February 20, 2018). "黃惠偵自曝撈獎趣事 受海關關切 - 自由娛樂" [Huang Hui-zhen reveals interesting story about winning prize and concern by customs department]. Liberty Times (in Chinese). Retrieved November 12, 2023.
  9. ^ "Loma–Our Home". Taiwan Pavilion. Taiwan Creative Content Agency. 2020. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
  10. ^ "《指認》紀錄短片製作企劃｜黃惠偵｜國藝會補助成果檔案庫" ["Identification" Documentary Short Film Production Project]. National Culture and Arts Foundation (in Chinese). 2022. Retrieved November 12, 2023.
  11. ^ Huang, Huizhen (October 11, 2017). "《我和我的T媽媽》：在那個分割成兩半的房間裡，藏著一個祕密" ["Me and My Mother T": In that room divided in half, there is a secret]. The News Lens (in Chinese). Retrieved November 12, 2023.