Melodia: a short film in rondo form

A T Beaune comes to the medium of film through a career in concert and stage performance—and an earlier gig in high school as a cinema usher.

‘Melodia’ (2023) is his second short film. Made in collaboration with Laticia Fan of f/Lash Productions, the art film stars Yi-An Chen as Mel with Aaron Don Don, Dora Lo, Anna Tian, Manav Mehta, Hank Yu, and Ariel Jia Chen. Music by Ludwig van Beethoven is performed by Chung Hua Weng. The film, currently in festival distribution, was named Best Short Film in the 2023 Art, Music and Film Festival in Los Angeles and Toronto. ‘Melodia’ has won awards in the 13th Buenos Aires International Film Festival (Cheng Hua Weng, soundtrack) and the 2024 Mannheim Arts and Film Festival in Germany (Culture and Travel category). The film premiered in the 38th Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival and is an official selection of the 2023 Vienna International Film Awards, where it was a finalist for artistic design. ‘Melodia’ is listed in the Palm Springs ShortFest Film Market Video Library and the Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Market.

‘Shoe Story’ (2021), his debut film, stars Taiwan talents Dora Lo, James C H Lo and Wen-Chieh Chi with sound design by Tzu-Xian Chen. The minimalist comedy short, filmed using a mobile phone and shot in two language versions, has won multiple international honours. The cast garnered top honours for Ensemble Acting at the Rotterdam Independent Film Festival and Ms Lo was awarded Best Actress at the Tagore International Film Festival; the film overall has won awards in Short Film, Comedy Short, Postmodern Film, Experimental Film, and Mobile Film categories. Still going strong, ‘Shoe Story’ received Special Mention in the 2024 London-Worldwide Comedy Short Film Festival and is an official selection of the inaugural Saint Auggie Shorts Festival in Saint Augustine and Liber Films annual festival in Athens, Greece.

As an actor A T Beaune is best known for his supporting role as a British tea merchant in Chunyang Lin’s ‘Gold Leaf’ (2021). The Taiwan dramatic series follows a Hsinchu tea-growing family through Taiwan’s tumultuous twentieth century. Based on real-life events, ‘Gold Leaf’ was filmed on location at numerous historical sites around Taiwan. The series stars Cindy Yu-Han Lien, Xing Li, James Sheng-hao Wen, Tzu-Chien Kuo, Jag Huang, Wilson Hsu and Simon Hsueh (plus eye-popping vintage cars and clothes) in a story by Juliana Hsu and Guo-Hua Huang.

A T Beaune is author and director of ‘Taiwan Photowalk’ (2010/2016), a photo storyboard exhibit that accompanies Modest Mussorgsky’s ‘Pictures at an Exhibition.’ Mandy Weng stars in the series which was shot over two years in locations across the country. ‘Taiwan Photowalk’ has screened twice in Taiwan’s National Concert Hall as well as in the National Palace Museum and in Taichung and Tainan venues. Apo Ching-Hsin Hsu and the NTNU Symphony Orchestra performed Ravel’s orchestration in the world premiere; Shao-Hsun Chang performed the original suite in the premiere of the version for piano.

In partnership with ICRT radio in Taiwan, A T Beaune wrote, directed, and acted in ‘1001 Nights: The Radio Play.’ An adaptation of his short story based on the medieval classic, the show was produced for national broadcast by Tim Berge and featured sound design by Ping Lu. The cast featured Chia-Hsuan Lin, Paul Batt, and Ruth Landowne Giordano along with the author.

A T Beaune’s short stage work ‘Flight 109,’ based on music by Taiwanese composer Sandra Tavali and poetry by William Shakespeare sung by Wendy Chen, premiered at the 2019 Taipei Shorts festival. Directed by the author in partnership with dancer and singer Lyra Angelique, the inaugural production starred Dora Lo, Chase Lo, Jacklyn Kuah and Michelle Hsu.

A T Beaune’s adaptation of ‘The Soldier’s Tale (L’histoire du soldat)’, by C F Ramuz with music by Igor Stravinsky, was staged by Chia-Hsuan Lin conducting the NTNU Chamber Players in Taipei. Beaune played The Devil alongside Yi-An Chen in the title role. In Taiwan he has appeared as a musician in numerous concert performances. His work was recently featured in Mali Liu’s radio program for Taipei Broadcasting FM93.1. in 2023 he served on the jury of the inaugural SubTropical International Film Festival.

A T Beaune’s screen acting debut came with an uncredited background appearance as a Portuguese merchant in Martin Scorsese’s ‘Silence,’ filmed in Taiwan. His first professional stage performances came in collaborations on operas, musicals, and plays in Baltimore, Washington, and Memphis theatres. He provided research assistance for opera scenes in Martin Scorsese’s film adaptation of ‘The Age of Innocence’ by Edith Wharton.

A T Beaune studied creative writing while earning a doctoral degree in music at the Johns Hopkins University. He garnered a Baltimore Writers Alliance award for fiction with ‘Baltimore Nocturne,’ his debut novel. His e-books are stocked by major booksellers and his humorous verse has been featured in Baltimore Symphony radio broadcasts. His lyric poetry has been set to music by John Budrevo.

An artist of Burgundian Gothic heritage, A T Beaune resides in Taiwan. About his early work as a cinema usher, he shares this insider observation: ‘Saturday night crowds are like no other.’