Taiwanese film producer Chen Hung-yuan (陳鴻元) said the length of the films was capped at 10 minutes to encourage filmmakers to "translate montage shots into film and to narrate personal stories about love and city."

At the contest's opening ceremony yesterday, Hualien Chairman George Hsieh (謝國樑) said that films like "Our Times (鉦昱翻譯社的少女時代)" had done very well in the mainland Chinese market翻譯社 which demonstrated great interest in the filmmaking culture of Taiwan.

Filmmakers are encouraged to experiment with different genres and to not limit themselves by interpreting "love" as a clichéd romance.

Eligible participants must be 18 to 36 years old and submit a 10-minute short made between 2015 and 2017.

The 2017 Cross-Strait Youth Short Film Competition (We愛•兩岸青年短片大賽) began Tuesday翻譯社 seeking to bring together talent from both sides of the strait in 10-minute short films.

All nominated filmmakers will be invited to attend Film Masters' Camp (片子巨匠交流營) in Shanghai between June. 23 to 30, with airfare and accommodation paid for.

Submissions that incorporate talent from Taiwan and mainland China stand the best chance of reaching the top 60.

Former Legislator Sun Ta-chien (孫大千) said that 30 of the films chosen would come from Taiwan and 30 from mainland China.

Organized in part by Hualien Media International Co. (華聯國際) and Shanghai Taiwanese Service Center (上海市海峽兩岸交流增進會), the contest will select 60 top short films inspired by the theme "love and cities" (愛與城市).

Hsieh is also the chairman of The China Post, a co-sponsor of the event.

The works of the 60 nominated filmmakers will be featured on social media platforms and potentially screened at schools in both regions.