Hello! Tapir
嗨！神獸 | Taiwan | 2022
U.S. Premiere
Taiwan | Animation | 2020 | 88 minutes | in Mandarin w/English and Chinese subtitles
Director: Kethsvin Chee
Starring: Charlie Young, Junto Pai, Lu Xue-feng, Lee Lee-zen
Film Source: mm2 Entertainment Co.
In-Cinema Screening
Saturday, Oct 22 at 2:30 PM
@ Tower Auditorium at Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT)
SYNOPSIS
In a fishing village lives a creature with the body of a pig, the nose of an elephant, the ears of a horse, and feet like a rhinoceros. Every night as people lie in slumber, it sneaks into the village and devours their nightmares! Ah Keat’s father has always recounted the story of when he came across the mythical creature in the forest as a child. Ah Keat is skeptical about the story but has always looked forward to the day he can see the creature for himself. When his father dies in an accident at sea one day, eight-year-old Ah Keat sets off in search of the mythical nightmare-eating creature in the forest, hoping it will bring his father back to life.
“A charming film which will appeal to viewers of all ages, HELLO! TAPIR may be a little too sugary for Western tastes but is salvaged by its young stars’ natural performances and free flowing wit…. The tapirs are animated but elsewhere the heavy lifting is done by the cinematography, which lends Taiwan’s wild landscapes an uncanny quality rarely seen in other films from the island nation. Chee presents viewers with a complete and absorbing world in a magical realist fable that reminds us of the value of imagination.”— Jennie Kermode, eyeforfilm.co.uk
STILL GALLERY
TRAILER
DIRECTOR
Kethsvin CHEE
Kethsvin CHEE, a Malaysia-born director, has been producing, directing and writing scripts for tele-movies, sitcoms, reality shows and TVCs since 2006. His first tele-movie, Superb Match Makers (2010), won the Best Festive Award at 2012 Golden Awards. His next tele-movie, Lucky Bowl 1 & 2 (2013), participated in the 19th Shanghai Television Awards. In 2014, his co-directed film, The Game 2, was nominated for Best Tele-movie in Spain’s Zoom Festive and won him a Best Director nomination. He was also nominated for Best New Director and Best Editing in 25th Festival Film Malaysia for The Cage (2015). Hello! Tapir was shortlisted as Top 6 “Early Bird New Directors Film Fund” organized by Hong Kong International Film Festival Society in year 2016.
