Taiwan

Cina Alis, 74, who now resides in Hucida Tribe in Kaohsiung in Taiwan, is one of the few Bunun natives who have refused to move into the prefabricated houses offered to them by the insensitive charity organizations for free. As a matter of fact, the tribe that Cina Alis belongs to has been evicted and placed to a new location on a total of six occasions by different authorities. Since 1939 while under the Japanese reign, their unwilling migration took off from their origins in the deep of the Central Mountains Range, and each time they moved they would settle closer to the lower mountain zone. But this time Cina Alis and her son will no longer concede to the deal to be forced to live on “other people’s land.” They are currently living in a town near Hucida, and they hope they’ll be able to come home one day…

For hundreds of years, this island, Taiwan, has been under different rules. From the Dutch, the Spanish, the Japanese, and nowadays Republic of China, each regime left their footprints on this island. During these periods, only the indigenous people of this island truly experienced of the process. As being ruled, indigenous peoples were labeled in different names and self-cultures had gradually being changed. The main character in the documentary is a Truku old man. Through his life experiences and life course, we see the history of aboriginal recertification movement.

In 2015, writer Chung Chao-cheng was 90 years old! In Taiwan, 90 years of memories includes experiencing: 2 countries, 3 different regimes, and 4 mother tongues… Writing unceasingly throughout his life, in the wake of regime change, he became regarded as a national treasure… At the end of Japanese colonial rule, writers who had originally used Japanese were suddenly denied the ability to write. After learning Mandarin Chinese, Chung Chao-cheng began writing about an important period of Taiwan’s history that would otherwise have been forgotten. As it happened, the source of inspiration for his epoch-marking novels is testimony to the perplexity and humor of life.

Dong-gang, a fishing village in the southern part of Taiwan, is a place where exceptional historical traces of a past mysterious ritual are still alive. One of the most important characteristic of being part of the Dong-gang community is joining a ritual that takes place every three year, They call the ritual as “Yi-Wang”. Performing this ritual, the people show a very touching cohesion, as well as the unique values of faith. Because of the ritual, the wandering son who find a link with home.

Based on a first-eye experience of its author, this documentary presents the history of four different lives and how they intertwine with The ritual of Yi-Wang and the life in Dong-gang. While a spectacular ceremony takes place in front of the camera, we discover the rural life and customs of Dong-gang village as they appear under the shadows of the hat “Lu li” , symbolizing the promise of keeping this ritual alive.

Deng Nan-Guang was one of the most important photographers in Taiwan at 1930s. This film is talking about his pictures and his home town, Bei-Pu where he loved the most. It has been four decades, after Deng Nan Guang passed away. The small town changed a lot. The director imitated the eye sight of Deng Nan Guang and observed the people, the farm, and the ritual, made the documentary a poetic essay.