Hi,
I’ve been watching some documentary films from Taiwan lately. It’s great for practising Chinese(because of clear pronunciations) as well as getting to know more about Taiwanese and Chinese culture.
What must-see Taiwanese documentaries would you recommend? I would like those related to Taiwan or China obviously: history, aboriginal/traditional culture, society, etc…
There are so many. The problem is finding them.
Hand in Hand (牽手)
Let it Be (無米樂)
In the Mountains 《Hla Huy 山上》 [not sure what the English title is]
Also be sure to check out the Taiwan International Documentary Festival and the Urban Nomad Film Festival later this year.
There is also 大陸尋奇, which has to do with China…
Lots of Taiwanese documentaries about China and Chinese history…
The frontman of the Muddy Basin Rambers showed me a real cracker of a PR film made by the Japanese in I suppose the 1930s extolling Taiwan as great place to settle and grow. Tropical paradise! I forgot to get the link, but I know its available at that Taiwan-centric bookstore off Gungguang. Well worth a look.
Made me think Taiwan was so great before the island got industrialized and filled the island with a bunch of industrial crap.
There are lots of places to start here but I’d recommend some of the films by Hu Tai-li.
Out of her early work, you could check out Voices of Orchid Island, a remarkable look at the challenges facing the Tao residents of Lanyu in the early 1990s including–among other topics–the environmental racism practiced by Taipower which set up a low level nuclear waste dump there without residents’ consent.
And, more recently, you could check out Stone Dream, which tells the story of an old soldier named Liu Bijia and his multiethnic family living in Hualien. It’s amazing and lyrical and its images and sounds have stuck with me for years.
Neither of these films is likely to help as a way to practice so-called “standard” Mandarin. But they open up all kinds of questions about Taiwan’s social and historical complexities and the sort of place it might possibly become.
Guy
This is in English, but I can’t resist mentioning that an episode of The Long Search, with Ronald Eyre, was shot here. (It’s a 1970’s BBC series introducing world religions. Taiwan represented Chinese religions.)
I enjoyed The Gangster’s God (炸神明) about the guys who take part in the Han Dan festival in Taidong. No idea where to find it, though.
deleted to post in another thread.
Any comment on this film? What did you like about it?
Guy
The film records the investigation and interview process of a judicial reporter. The doubts of the case itself and the loopholes of the judicial system in Taiwan are presented interactively, and the blind spots of human nature are also exposed.
A few documentaries noted in the article, which centers on MoC correct/incorrect direction of support.