Cover image via Kaohsiung Film Festival/Tapir Studio (Provided to SAYS)
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Malaysian filmmaker Taha Long from Klang is celebrating a major career moment with the world premiere of Afterword at the Kaohsiung Film Festival (KFF) in Taiwan
Now in its 25th year, the Kaohsiung Film Festival is one of Taiwan's leading showcases for innovative cinema.
It celebrates filmmakers who push creative and cultural boundaries across Asia and beyond, making it a fitting platform for Afterword's debut.
Taha Long.
Image via Kaohsiung Film Festival/Tapir Studio (Provided to SAYS)The feature film, directed by Taiwanese filmmaker Yi-Chiang Lin, premiered on 24 and 25 October as part of the festival's Taiwan Trans-border section.
Shot in Taipei and New York City, Afterword tells the story of Chou Yuan, a writer who finds an undeveloped roll of film and an unfinished manuscript from a past relationship.
Moved by what he discovers, he sets out for New York in search of closure and lost love.
At its core, Afterword is a film about the spaces between people and places, and how we try to bridge them
A still from 'Afterword'.
Image via Tapir Studio (Provided to SAYS)"Filming during the pandemic felt like a form of healing.
"To now return to Kaohsiung with a completed feature, it is a circle closing and a renewal of faith in cinema," said Lin during the festival's Filmmaker Talk.
A still from 'Afterword'.
Image via Tapir Studio (Provided to SAYS)Starring Yung-wei Lee, Dafi Cramer, and Ning Han, the film continues Lin's exploration of memory and identity.
His earlier short, An Unfinished Film, won the Excellence in Short Filmmaking – Documentary Award at the Asian American International Film Festival in New York.
As a Malaysian creative who spent years in New York City, Taha found a personal connection with the film's cross-cultural heartbeat
"As a Malaysian who lived and worked in New York, I found a common emotional ground with Yi.
"That feeling of being between worlds, not really belonging to one or the other, deepened our understanding of what it means to belong, to bridge differences quietly through creation," he shared.
A still from 'Afterword'.
Image via Tapir Studio (Provided to SAYS)Taha is a graduate of the School of Visual Arts, New York, where he earned his MPS in Film Directing, and an alumnus of Playlab Films' 2022 Apichatpong Weerasethakul Lab.
He has produced over a dozen short films, commercials, and documentaries, supported by organisations such as PBS Latino Public Broadcasting, the Krishen Jit Fund, and the Hai-O Arts and Culture Grant.
Taha currently serves as a film programmer for the Asian American International Film Festival and a part-time lecturer at Multimedia University (MMU).
For Taha, the film's premiere is not only a professional milestone but also a personal reminder of how Malaysian stories can connect with audiences anywhere in the world
By bringing Afterword to Kaohsiung, he joins a growing wave of Malaysian filmmakers who are building bridges across cultures.
You can check out more info on his film here.
