Taiwan Film Festival 臺灣電影節 2017: Indigenous Representations and Responses 原民現身與迴聲
Friday, December 1, 2017 - 17:30 to Sunday, December 3, 2017 - 21:00
Indigenous cultures form the foundation of contemporary multicultural Taiwan. Consequently, indigenous representation in its cinema has been plentiful, yet often controversial. These films range from troubling stereotypes of Taiwan’s native peoples in the 1960s to popular contemporary films by indigenous directors. This diverse programme will feature documentaries and feature films that engage with cultural, social, ecological, and political issues pertinent to Taiwan’s past and present.
All screenings are FREE and open to the public, but bookings are essential. All films have English subtitles.
Opening night film—Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale I 賽德克·巴萊: 太陽旗
This epic film, one of Taiwan’s greatest box office hits, recounts the violent events of the Wushe Incident, an indigenous uprising against Japanese rule in 1930. Beautifully set in Taiwan’s Central Mountain Range, and receiving both praise and controversy, this film offers a compelling take on violent responses to colonisation.
Song of Orchid Island 蘭嶼之歌
Produced by the world-famous Shaw Brothers Studio of Hong Kong, this film is one of the earliest film representations of Taiwan’s indigenous peoples. Filmed on this idyllic island southeast of Taiwan, Song of Orchid Island employs common stereotypes to deliver a romantic story of a ‘civilized’ doctor’s encounter with a ‘native’ island girl, played by the popular Chinese actress Cheng Pei-pei 鄭佩佩.
How Deep is the Ocean 海有多深
Dislocation and despair, return and recovery, this film documents one Yami (Tao) man’s journey from Orchid Island to Taipei and back again, escaping addiction through the healing powers of community and the ocean.
Best Short Documentary, Golden Harvest Awards (2000)
Screened at Taiwan International Ethnographic Festival (2015)
Hawaii International Film Festival (2000)
Vancouver International Film Festival (2000)
Asia is One アジアは一つ
Filmed by activist documentary makers from Tokyo, this recently rediscovered underground film takes us from Taiwanese migrant workers in American-occupied Okinawa to a small Atayal village in the mountains of eastern Taiwan.
Screened at the Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival (2005)
1972, 1h36m
Directed by NDU (Nihon Documentary Union)
Lokah Laqi 只要我長大
Discover the challenges and joys of life from the perspective of three charismatic boys living in a Sqoyaw village in Taichung. This engaging and affirming story is the latest film focused on indigenous life to enjoy a wide release and popular reception in Taiwan.
Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale II 賽德克·巴萊 / 彩虹橋
Continuing from the first film, shown on Friday night, the conflict between the Seediq and the Japanese forces escalates with brutal consequences.
Voices of Orchid Island 蘭嶼觀點
Everyday life on Orchid Island is revealed in this important film by one of Taiwan’s most eminent ethnographic film makers. Hu Tai-li examines the social and ecological problems that the Yami (Tao) people face, especially the government’s controversial and continued use of the island as a nuclear waste dump.
Old Seafarer 老海人洛馬比克
Based on a story by Syaman Rapongan夏曼‧藍波安, a noted writer of Orchid Island’s Yami (Tao) tribe, this gentle short film looks at the complexities of young love in the martial law period (1947-97) while evoking deep economic and spiritual connections with the ocean.
Special Screening at Golden Harvest Awards (2015)
2015, 25m, PG
Directed by Cheng Yu-Chieh鄭有傑
Connection by Fate 超級公民
Starring musician Chang Chen-yue張震嶽/Ayal Komod海雅谷慕, this is one of the few films of Taiwan’s famed New Cinema movement to consider indigenous Taiwan. Director Wan Jen hauntingly explores intersections of the afterlife and daily struggle in a gritty and lonely fin de siècle Taipei.
Best Music, Asia Pacific Film Festival (1998)
1998, 1h53m, PG
Directed by Wan Jen 萬仁
Children in Heaven天堂小孩
Children in Heaven documents the aboriginal community living under the Sanying Bridge in New Taipei City. Every year the community is destroyed because the authorities deem that the settlement has breached the Water Resources Act. After each demolition, even the ruined building materials are completely removed from the site.
