Taiwan

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.

When Director Laway was small, his father began working as crew on fishing boats out of the port of Kaohsiung. All through his youth, Laway’s mother took him by Kinmen bus from Taitung to Kaohsiung to visit his father every year or two.

Amis people have worked on fishing boats for years, and such family visits were common in the years from 1940 to 1960.

With permission granted in April of 2013, Director Laway picked up his camera to film six of the Amis crew members. He boarded a Taiwanese ocean-going ship on Bona Bei island – an American possession in the South Pacific. With this ship he followed a purse seiner for 20 days, filming the crew’s hard work and difficult life.
To conclude, how was Laway’s father able to get through twenty years of his working career as a crew member?
The director’s only assistant is the son of a photographer – Mayaw‧Laway