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Call for Films: The 13th Taiwan International Ethnographic Film Festival 2025

We are pleased to announce the 13th edition of the Taiwan International Ethnographic Film Festival (TIEFF) to be held in Taipei from 16 – 20 October 2025. Founded in 2001, TIEFF is the longest running ethnographic film festival in Asia. For nearly 25 years, we have showcased outstanding ethnographic films from Taiwan and around the world, introducing the Taiwanese public to a wide variety of anthropological topics while highlighting the contributions of film as a medium. By moving ethnography off of the page and onto the screen, the festival seeks both to attract new audiences to the discipline of anthropology as well as to push the boundaries of ethnography. In addition to the main festival in Taipei, TIEFF also sponsors a touring festival in which we bring a portion of the selected films to communities and campuses across Taiwan.

TIEFF takes a flexible stand regarding what counts as an ethnographic film. We present documentary films (and occasionally more experimental genres or ethnofictions) that portray communities in a culturally sensitive and historically contextualized way. We showcase films by both “insider” and “outsider” filmmakers, by established and new directors, journalists, educators, and artists. We seek films which are made in an ethical manner without sensationalizing their subjects. Films that are the product of long-term close collaboration between filmmaker and subject are particularly welcome. TIEFF is especially proud of its commitment to celebrating the vibrancy and resilience of Indigenous cultures and has been one of the most important venues for showcasing the work of both local and international Indigenous filmmakers. We strongly encourage filmmakers from Indigenous and other marginalized communities to submit their work to our festival.

All films submitted to the festival must have been completed between January 2023 and January 2025. While we do occasionally accept fiction films, biographies, sports documentaries, and concert films, such films will only be considered if they are accompanied by a statement regarding their suitability to the festival, especially connection to the festival theme. All festival films go through a highly selective screening process. Films on any topic will be considered, but special consideration will be given to films that match the theme (as described below). The festival does not have a competition or offer prizes or awards.

The theme for the 2025 TIEFF, “Fables of De/Industrialization” invites us to explore the material and mythic qualities of de/industrialization. Through ethnographic films that focus on the fabulous—and often uncanny—experiences of infrastructures, ruin and ruination, and displacement, we hope to trace what Rob Nixon has called the “slow violence” of socio-economic transformation. Slow violence generally operates at a scale that eludes conventional ethnographic observation. However, the more immediate and tangible aspects of industrial development and decline intimate its presence, often through allegory or a kind of resonance. How might ethnographic film examine de/industrialization in ways unafforded by written texts? How can film show the uncanny traces of historical processes? TIEFF especially seeks works that grapple with ongoing processes of loss, grounded in enduring cultural memory, or through acts of refusal. By emphasizing the notion of fables, TIEFF also welcomes ethnographic films that adopt experimental approaches, alongside films that employ close observation in local contexts.

All entries must be submitted via our FilmFreeway account at: https://filmfreeway.com/festival/TIEFF

Entry submission deadline: March 31

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P. Kerim Friedman 傅可恩 http://kerim.oxus.net/ Professor, Dept. of Ethnic Relations & Cultures College of Indigenous Studies National Dong Hwa University, TAIWAN 國立東華大學原住民民族學院 族群關係與文化學系教授

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