The Taiwan Documentary Film Festival 2020 has been successfully staged from November 13 to 22. This time focusing on Taiwan’s Indigenous Peoples, the festival programme featured four documentaries provided by the Taiwan Film and Audiovisual Institute:
"Where Has the Land Gone?" (土地到哪裏去了?) and "The Story of the Rainbow" ("彩虹的故事2) by our “guest director” and Atayal social activist Pilin Yapu 比令亞布, presenting and reflecting on problems of preserving the foundations of authentic indigenous existence in Taiwan: land and culture, “Coming Home” (“回家”, 2018) by Huang Shu-mei 黃淑梅 about cultural preservation through education and “The Mountain” (“靈山”) by Su Hung-En 蘇弘恩 depicting the live of the directors Atayal grandfather and contrasting it with Japanese and R.O.C. discourse on aboriginals life from archival film material.
The films could be streamed online individually upon registering for participation.
“The Mountain” was also discussed in the festival official opening, a guest lecture by Prof. Kerim Friedman from the Department of Ethnic Relations and Cultures of the College of Indigenous Studies at National Dong Hwa University, Hualien, Taiwan, on “Space, Time, and Indigeneity in Contemporary Taiwanese Documentary Film” on Monday, November 16, which made for a wonderful start.
Although he could not be physically present in Tübingen, guest director Pilin Yapu joined us online on Friday, November 20, 2020, to discuss his films with the audience.
Fascinating was also how he talked about his mission as an educator for indigenous children and more generally about the current situation of indigenous life in Taiwan. We could not have hoped for a more lively and interesting finish and once more express our gratitude to all who contributed to and participated in the event, last but not least the Taiwan Film and Audiovisual Institute for providing the excellent documentaries.
Programme Flyer