At the beginning of the summer, Reel Asian International Film Festival asked our audience to vote for their favourite “retro” Asian films with the promise that we would program the top vote-getters. After 2 weeks of public voting, the public decided on Au Revoir Taipei.

AU REVOIR TAIPEI (一頁台北) - Kai, a lovesick young man, wants to leave Taipei in hopes of getting to Paris to be with his girlfriend. Kai spends long nights in a bookstore studying French, where Susie, a girl who works there, begins to take an interest in him. After one extra ordinary night, Kai finds the excitement and romance he was longing for are already right there in Taipei.

This quirky romantic comedy is Taiwanese-American Arvin Chen’s directorial feature debut. A box office success in Taiwan, the film also won the NETPAC Prize at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2010. Au Revoir Taipei was selected as Reel Asian’s closing night film in 2010.