I'll briefly introduce our film festival
It's called the Taiwan International Ethnographic Film Festival
In English it's called:
This is the 11th year of the festival
The first festival was held in 2001
And it's a biennial film festival
The main festival is biennial, hosted at a cinema in Taipei
Every other year we tour around Taiwan screening films
So this year will be the sixth festival
The special thing about our festival is that
We combine two elements
The first is the theme
When we call for entries
We hope that the films will fit with the theme
For this year's "Suffering and Rebirth" theme, for instance
We made it quite broad
Because everywhere in the world has experienced a lot of suffering
Whether due to natural disasters related to climate change, like earthquakes and floods and other such things
Or the rise in sea level or global warming
As well as economic problems
As well as problems related to the preservation and heritage of ethnic cultures
In Taiwan there are several aboriginal groups,
In other places around the world there are lots of minority groups
We observe how they survive interaction with people outside their communities and with modern society
And then how they learn to develop in this context
The theme extends not just to ecological or ethnic and cultural issues
But also to our bodies and spirituality
In the midst of all this suffering we hope to see people find energy that pushes them forwards once again
This coincides with the 100th year of the Republic of China
Which we thought provided an interesting opportunity to reflect on the past 100 years
And perhaps to find a way for ourselves in the world for the future
As well as the theme part of the festival
We have selected those films released from the time of the last festival up until 2011
That we thought were good in terms of culture and ethnography
Without limiting them to a theme as such
Any subject will do
These films were entered under the "New Vision" section of our festival
I am always interested in the director's sensitivity to culture
And what he can inspire in the audience
I want to see if the director has really immersed himself in the culture he depicts
As this affects how much knowledge of this culture that we can absorb as an audience
I also look for whether the film's method of representation is well thought-out
And whether he has thought about a way to prevent the film coming across as boring
We place importance on methods which attract the viewer's attention, are artistic and topical
And clearly portray the cultural phenomenon that they have come to understand
We've received more entries this year than ever before
I believe this is as a result of the birth of new media
So more and more people can make their own films with a limited budget
We've found that Aboriginal people, in particular, have found it easier to get jobs in film making
Since the birth of Digital Video
And it's become a way for them to record their own tribal cultures
This year we've invited aboriginal director Lungnan Isak Fangas
He's a director from the Yami tribe
It's clear that the birth of DV has allowed the talent of these aboriginal directors to take root in this new century
If a film is selected it will be deserving of the honour
And we'll try our best to get the director to come
And we'll provide lodging for them for the duration of the festival
In the hope that they'll be able to see the other films And attend the discussions
So we hope the festival will have a kind of family atmosphere about it