Passport Thursdays: Taiwan

The Queens Museum’s summertime staple, Passport Thursdays: International Dance, Music, and Film Series, returns for another exciting season featuring some of the many international locales that fuel Queens’ cultural and artistic vitality. This year’s adventure includes stops in the Caribbean, Taiwan, India, Colombia, Korea, and South Africa. So leave your baggage at home and bring a picnic blanket out to Flushing Meadows Corona Park for an evening in the shadow of the majestic Unisphere. There will be free artmaking workshops for families before the films start, our galleries and café will remain open until 8pm, and we won’t let a little rain spoil the fun, we’ll just move the whole event indoors.

And if coming to the Park is a little out of the way, this year we are partnering with the Rockaway Waterfront Alliance to bring three of the films out to Rockaway. Destination Rockaway: Passport International Film Series will present three selections from Passport Thursdays in the Rockaway Community Garden. So whether you prefer the beach or the park, we hope you’ll join us on our journey of global sights and sounds.

Music: Taiwanese Music Ensemble of New York

Founded by Taiwanese-American guqin player Shih-hua (Judy) Yeh, the ensemble was organized by a group of professional musicians and performed widely around Eastern United States. The ensemble is also dedicated to the education of young people, performed frequently in the neighborhood.

Film: Zone Pro Site: The Moveable Feast (Zung Pou Si, Taiwan, 2013, 145min, Mandarin with English ST)

More than 20 years ago, there were 3 outdoor banquet (ban-doh) master chefs who dominated the catering business in Taiwan. However, business has been in decline since Taiwan’s economic decline. The late Master Fly Spirit wanted to pass the family recipes and culinary skills on to his only daughter, Wan, but she runs away from the family business to become a fashion model. Nevertheless, the indebted Wan is destined to take up mission she once shunned by joining forces with her equally down-on-her-luck mother to win grand prize in a national catering contest.