2026 Kaohsiung Film Festival
This year, the Kaohsiung Film Festival has selected “Drama World” (抓馬人間) as its annual theme. Running from October 9 to October 26, the festival’s 13 selected works promise a program that is more Drama than you imagine.
A Theme Rooted in Everyday Language
“Drama” (抓馬) is the phonetic transliteration of the English word “Drama,” used to describe people, things, or events filled with theatricality, exaggerated plots, and a strong sense of conflict. Whether someone is being called a “Drama Queen” or a situation is described as “very drama,” the word carries a vivid, raw energy—as if sparks are flying.
The “Drama World” theme turns this everyday slang into a lens for cinema. It asks what happens when real life starts to feel scripted. The selected films lean into that idea, capturing moments where conflicts escalate, personalities collide, and ordinary situations spiral into something that feels almost choreographed.
A Selection of 13 Dramatic Works
The 2026 lineup features 13 selected works covering all kinds of dramatic emotions in the world. Some approach drama through sharp humor, others through intense emotional confrontation, and still others through the quiet, slow-burn tensions of everyday relationships. What binds them is a fascination with the theatrical side of human nature.
For festival audiences, the payoff is a program that is both entertaining and revealing. The films offer the comfort of watching dramatic chaos unfold from a cinema seat while holding a mirror to the smaller-scale drama playing out in our own lives.
Screening Details
Film Festival Screenings | 10.09 (Fri) – 10.26 (Mon)
The festival opens on Friday, October 9, and closes on Monday, October 26, giving audiences over two weeks to explore the full program.
What is “Drama World”?
“Drama World” is a section of the 2026 Kaohsiung Film Festival’s main program. It brings together films that treat performance as a subject, both in the theater and in everyday life. The title refers to the theatrical roots of storytelling, but it also points to the roles people play outside the stage.
The selected films share an interest in identity and self-presentation. Their characters try on new personas, confront the expectations of family or community, or find themselves trapped in situations they did not write for themselves. Some stories are set backstage; others take place in courtrooms, apartments, or offices. What connects them is a concern with public display and private motive.
Kaohsiung is a useful context for this program. It is a port city with a long history of transit and exchange, and its streets and waterfront have always hosted chance encounters. The festival has often asked how cinema relates to place. This section extends that question to performance: how people present themselves, and what happens when their performances begin to break down.
“Drama World” does not claim that all cinema is drama. It simply presents a set of films that take performance seriously, as a social practice and as a source of narrative tension. The program rewards close attention to behavior, gesture, and the gap between what characters say and what they do. It is for viewers interested in the work actors do, and in the quieter performances that everyday life requires.
