Cross-6-City Local Revitalization Microfilm Competition Kicks Off, Calling on Youth to Tell Local Stories

Lee Yung-ping, Chairperson of the Taiwan Arts and Cultural Revitalization Foundation, stated that the "Youth Return Home - 2026 Local Revitalization Microfilm Competition" has entered its 5th edition, accumulating 120 works and gradually exerting its influence. She encouraged creators to continue filming, deepening their long-term observation and documentation of local areas.

She pointed out that this year, for the first time, the scope of filming has been expanded to include military dependents' village cultural groups. The official website's "Local Revitalization Worker Database" has also been expanded to include cases from all over Taiwan, showcasing diverse ethnic group cultures such as indigenous peoples, Hakka, new residents, and military dependents' villages through video.

New Taipei City Deputy Mayor Liu Ho-ran stated that cross-city cooperation promotes exchange, allowing different regions to learn from each other's experiences and enabling more people to see local stories. He expressed hope that this initiative would encourage young people to pay attention to their hometowns and participate in local development.

Liu Ho-ran cited an example at the press conference: last year's first-prize winning work, "Weaving Song," documented Amis youth Lin Shih-han's journey back to her roots, combining traditional songs with weaving techniques to demonstrate the significance of cultural heritage. New Taipei has also promoted youth returning to their hometowns in recent years, such as "UChung Tea" in Pinglin and "Pinwei Gongliao Select Shop," introducing creativity to transform local appearances.

Qiu Zhao-mei, Director of the New Taipei City Youth Bureau, stated that this year, they are collaborating with 6 cities and counties, including Keelung City, Taipei City, Taoyuan City, Hsinchu County, and Taichung City, and have increased prize money to encourage more young people to participate in creation. Submissions are open from now until June 10th, and selected works will be screened at the awards ceremony and a nationwide touring film festival.

Cai Fu-ning, Director of the Keelung City Department of Economic Affairs, pointed out that Keelung's port city transformation has been successful in recent years, and they hope to showcase the new look of mountains and seas through video. Tu Chun-hui, Deputy Director of the Taoyuan City Youth Affairs Bureau, stated that they will assist local revitalization teams in connecting with the international community, using video to record stories of the city connecting with the world. (Edited by Long Bo-an) 1150409