Director and stars of A Place of One’s Own at the Taipei Film Festival L to R: Jack Kao (高捷), Lou Yi-an (樓一安), Lu Chia-hsin (路嘉欣), Mo Zi-yi (莫子儀)

Seeing films at the Taipei Film Festival recaptures the excitement of going to the movies. The cinema is packed and there is a great sense of anticipation before the film begins. It is also special to know that the director and stars of the movie are in the audience too. So it was last night when I went to the screening of A Place of One’s Own (一席之地), directed by Lou Yi-an (樓一安), at the festival.

A Place of One’s Own is a movie that captures the spirit of rock and roll and all its ups and downs. The two stars are Mozi (莫子), played by Mo Zi-yi, who is struggling with his career as an independent musician and a burden of debt. His girlfriend Kasey (凱西), played by Lu Chia-hsin, has a much more successful commercial musical career. Mozi’s pride makes him refuse to use Kasey’s success as a means to boost his own career.

Singing Chen (陳芯宜), director of God Man Dog (流浪神狗人), was the movie’s producer and some of the stylistic elements of God Man Dog can be seen in the production. In particular the use of religious imagery and the down to earth character played by Jack Kao. Kao is in a parallel story along with Lu Yi-Ching (陸弈靜). Kao’s character Lin creates paper houses that are burned in funeral ceremonies and along with his wife Yue, played by Lu, is part of a world of superstition, feng shui and obsession with the afterlife. The other main character is A-gang, the son of Lin and Yue, who acts as the bridge between the two stories.

The Amis community of Sanying (三鶯部落) in Taipei County also plays a part in the movie. Sanying is currently facing the threat of demolition once again. Director Lou said at the end of the movie that although he may not be able to solve the problem, at least he can make more people aware of it.

The movie is about the struggle of people living on the margins and contrasts their lives with those who have made it, although everyone must taste some of the bitterness of loss in the end. It reflects a strong social conscience and successfully uses music as an integral part of the story line.

The movie soundtrack will be released on 1 August. A package of the CD and two tickets to the movie is available for NT$520. The film will have a general release in Taiwan on 2 October. Lu Chia-hsin and Mo Zi-yi will perform at the Music Terminals  Festival (音樂航空站) in Taoyuan on 2 August.

Links

• 一席之地 - 官方部落格
• A Place of One’s Own - trailer with English subtitles at YouTube
• A Place of One’s Own - China Post review
• A Place of One’s Own - The Hollywood Reporter review

• 2007 at the movies
• A dark Taipei drama
• Movie review: Island Etude
• The Wall-Passer: unique sci-fi romance
• 10th Taipei Film Festival

The two human rights defenders are Lin Chia-fan (林佳範), President of the Taiwan Association for Human Rights (TAHR), and Lee Ming-tsung (李明聰), Vice-Chairperson of Amnesty International (AI) Taiwan and assistant professor in the Department of Sociology at NTU. Lee and Lin were charged under Article 29 of the Parade and Assembly Law for their involvement in two separate protests in November 2008. Lee was involved in a sit-in outside the Executive Yuan on 6-7 November that marked the beginning of the Wild Strawberry Movement (野草莓學運). Lin led a demonstration at the Legislative Yuan on 19 November calling for amendments to the Parade and Assembly Law.

A recent article (中文) on the Wild Strawberry Movement’s blog says that police presented 20 photographs of Lee holding a megaphone as proof that he planned and led the protest outside the Executive Yuan. The article asks the question whether every person at the protest who held the megaphone could be considered to have been involved in planning the protest. It asks all people at the protest to e-mail photos or video that can be used as evidence of what really happened in front of the Executive Yuan on those two days.

Another case involving the Assembly Law was also in the news today. The Taipei Times reported Panai Luni was served with notice of a fine of NT$30,000 for leading a protest outside the KMT headquarters in Taipei in March this year. The protest was against the demolition of the Saowac Community of Amis people by the Taoyuan County Government. Deputy Precinct Chief Hsu Shao-tsong (徐少聰) was quoted as saying Panai was holding the microphone and giving orders and therefore held responsible.

Residents of the Sanying Community in Taipei County and the Saowac and Kanjin Communities in Taoyuan County and supporters went to the Zhongshan Police Station in Taipei yesterday to turn themselves in for participating in the March protest. The police accepted a list of 50 people who said they would voluntarily surrender to police.

These cases represent an ongoing attack by the government on freedom of speech and freedom of assembly. I earlier wrote an article arguing that freedom of assembly is a basic right. The Parade and Assembly Law is unconstitutional and must be abolished. For as long as this law exists Taiwanese people cannot enjoy 100% freedom of speech.

• Freedom of assembly is a basic right
• Violence and hatred must be condemned
• Wild Strawberries take to the streets
• Wild Strawberries ready for nonviolent action
• Assembly Law amendments restrict rights

Aphasia at The Wall on 14 June 2009

Summer has well and truly arrived and it brings with it an awesome line up of summer music events. Music festivals and other special events will see several major international acts perform as well as a huge number of Taiwanese bands. The events are not just limited to Taipei either, there are also festivals in Yilan, Kaohsiung and Miaoli. I have listed the events in chronological order.

The Grass Festival (第三屆草地音樂節) is on 4-5 July at the  Daxi Elementary School in Yilan County. It has an awesome line up of Taiwan indie bands over the two days including Aphasia (阿飛西雅), LTK Commune (濁水溪公社), 88 Balaz (八十八顆芭樂籽) and Kou Chou Ching (拷秋勤).

The U-Loud Music Festival (有料音樂祭) has events in both Kaohsiung and Taipei. On 4 July it’s on at Pier 2 Arts District in Kaohsiung (高雄駁二藝術特區). The line up includes three Kaohsiung bands KoOk, Shy Kick Apple (害羞踢蘋果) and Fire Ex (滅火器) along with Clione-Index from Japan, Silverbus, Chang Jui-chuan, Orangegrass (橙草) and Sugar Plum Ferry (甜梅號).

Update: Hohaiyan Rock Festival (海洋音樂祭) at Fulong Beach in Taipei County from 10-12 July.

Free Tibet concert (西藏自由音樂會) on Saturday 11 July at the carpark next to Shingkong Mitsukoshi in the Xinyi District of Taipei. It kicks off at 1:30pm with an awesome line up of bands. The concert is not only about a Free Tibet, entry is also free. The line up of bands is KoOk, Enno Cheng (鄭宜農), Shoo Band (恕樂團), Banai (巴奈), Chang Jui-chuan (張睿銓), Aphasia, Dog G (大支), Fire Ex (滅火器), ChthoniC (閃靈) and LTK Commune. This will be ChthoniC’s first performance with their new style of makeup.

On 18-19 July the U-Loud Music Festival goes north for two shows at The Wall in Taipei. On Saturday the 18th the bands are Silverbus, Chang Jui-chuan, Orangegrass and ChthoniC. On Sunday it’s Shy Kick Apple, Fire Ex and Sugar Plum Fairy. Tickets for U-Loud in Taipei and Kaohsiung are NT$500 or NT$800 for two nights in Taipei.

Hip hop fans should all be at The Wall on 26 July when Kou Chou Ching presents Unsung Heroes (無名英雄) featuring Kou Chou Ching, DJ Point, Chang Jui-chuan and MoShang. The event is to launch a compilation album featuring all these artists. Entry is NT$300 or NT$600 with a CD.

Terminals Music Festival (音樂航空站) on 1-2 August at Taoyuan Stadium is shaping to be the major event of the summer. Placebo are headlining on Saturday night and Tricky on Sunday night. There is a plethora of great bands listed to play over the two days and more to be announced. Australia is well represented with Frente, Mick Turner (of the Dirty Three), The Stabs, Cuba is Japan and The Holy Soul. There are more international bands from Japan, Germany, China and Malaysia. Taiwanese bands include 1976, The White Eyes (白目), LTK Commune, Tizzy Bac and Sugar Plum Ferry.

Nine Inch Nails  play at Nangang 101 on 12 August. And on 13 August the Summer Rock Summit featuring Linkin Park, All-American Rejects and Hoobastank is on at the Taipei County Stadium in Banqiao.

Jump Festival 2009 (跳起來音樂節) is on at the Huashan Arts Centre in Taipei from 15-16 August. This festival eschews international acts and puts the focus on Taiwan’s indie scene. Bands playing include 88 Balaz, Taimaica Sound System (台買加環繞音效), Flat Club (假文藝青年俱樂部), The Peppermints (薄荷葉) and more.

Central Taiwan sees some action on 21-23 August with Love Love Rock on the beach at Tongxiao in Miaoli County. The festival plans to invite 100 Asian indie bands to participate.

GigGuide Taiwan has more about live music events, especially regular gigs at venues in Taipei. Please check the festival websites for further information, especially details of ticket prices and exact times and locations. Events may be cancelled if there is a typhoon!

• Tales of summer
• Links 17 March 2008
• Monocle covers Taiwan rock
• Taking a break
• My new teaching job

At the beginning of the screening of Taipei 24H (台北異想) there was an ad featuring Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin promoting Taipei City as a site for film production. Hau introduces some locations in the city before ending the ad by announcing an NT$2.5 million dollar subsidy for film makers making films in Taipei through the Taipei Film Commission.

I am not sure if there was a direct connection between the ad and Taipei 24H, which was produced by PTS (公共電視). However, Taipei 24H was also something of a showcase for Taipei as it is seen by local film makers. It also highlighted a diverse range of talents and ideas.

Taipei 24H is made up of eight short films, each eleven minutes long, set in a different time segment of the day. It begins with the 6:00 to 9:00am segment titled “Share the Morning” (晨之美) directed by Cheng Feng-feng (鄭芬芬). It is about some children on their way to school who find a cat up a tree and it ends with humorous coda.

The next segment, ”Just a little run” (那個夏天的小出走), set between 9:00 and 12:00 directed by Niu Cheng-tse (紐承澤) tells the story of two young teenage runaways. This worked well and made good use of the talents of two young actors (Lee Kuan-yi (李冠毅) also starred in Orz Boyz).

At midday director Debbie  Hsu (許榕容) steams things up in “Summer Heat” (午熱) about a lunch time tryst between two office workers that doesn’t turn out quite the way they hoped. Themes of love and sex continue in the afternoon with “Save the Lover” (舊。情人) directed by Cheng Hsiao-tse (程孝澤), but again things are not what they seem.

Taipei 24H segued into the evening with “Smoke” (煙) directed by Lee Chi-Yuarn (李啟源). It focuses on an encounter between father and daughter and although it lacks dialogue it doesn’t fail to make an impact. This film was also entered in the short films section of the Taipei Awards.

DJ Chen’s (陳映蓉) “Dream Walker” (走蒙人) took Taipei into the night with some surreal MRT scenes. During the Q&A at the end of the film it was revealed that the MRT scenes in this film were shot by stealth. ”Owl Service” (末班車) directed by An Je-yi (安哲毅) was another film about a father-daughter relationship.

The final segment takes place at 4:00am in a coffee shop. Lee Kang-shang (李康生) directs his mentor Tsai Ming-liang (蔡明亮) who makes a rare on screen appearance. The film is set in Lu Yi-Ching’s (陸弈靜) coffee shop and is a tribute to dancer Luo Man-fei (羅曼菲) who passed away in 2006.

At the end of the screening Lu and Tsai gave away samples of coffee for the people who had just watched the film.

Taipei 24H contained a variety of film making styles and the concept worked well. Even though each film was self-contained, together they created something that contributed to the whole.

• 2007 at the movies
• Movie review: Island Etude
• The Wall-Passer: unique sci-fi romance
• 10th Taipei Film Festival
• Taiwanese cinema resurgent in 2008

Austronesian Taiwan: Linguistics, History, Ethnology, Prehistory

The new edition was edited by Dr David Blundell, my thesis advisor at NCCU, with assistance from Chris Anderson and the people at SMC Books. I also played a small role in the editing process.

Austronesian Taiwan is a wonderful collection of papers on the Austronesian speaking peoples of Formosa. It is a great reference for anyone who would like to learn more about the rich culture and history of Taiwan’s indigenous peoples. The book gives many insights into the value of Austronesian languages and their associated cultures as  living heritage and as a cultural resource for Taiwan and the world.

The connections between Taiwan and the Austronesian dispersal through the Indian and Pacific Oceans are explored in Peter Bellwood’s chapter “Formosan Prehistory and Austronesian Dispersal”. A more contemporary perspective is found in Chris Anderson’s essay on the Amis Folklore Great Singers of Malan. It is a fascinating look at how the group formed in response to the unauthorised use of samples of Amis singers by Enigma in their hit song “Return to Innocence”. It shows the complex interactions that took place in the context of globalisation when the group from Malan performed on the international stage. The book also contains essays on linguistic studies, archaeology and looks at Japanese studies of Formosa.

The final chapter by David Blundell has been updated to include more information about developments of the Electronic Cultural Atlas Initiative (ECAI). Another reflection of the influence of the internet is the list of internet resources (which also includes this blog) in an appendix.

The book is available in a soft cover version for NT$560 (15% discount for students) through SMC Books (南天書局) and the Shung Ye Museum. It may also be available through some other outlets including the NCCU bookshop.

• Out of Formosa
• German magazine about Taiwan
• Another Lonely Planet
• Links 5 May 2008
• President Ma on CNN Talk Asia

In International Relations I gave a presentation on “Taiwan and the Pacific Island Nations”. This topic is very worthy of further research, particularly looking at Taiwan’s relations with the Solomon Islands and the effects of China’s growing influence in the region.

On Monday I presented my thesis proposal to my thesis committee. The thesis looks at the current situation of indigenous rights in Taiwan based on a case study of the Smangus Beech Tree Incident. The proposal was passed and now I need to work hard on writing my thesis over the summer.

Although the semester is over next week there is a conference of the Society for East Asian Anthropology of the American Anthropological Association at Academia Sinica. A group of students from the Taiwan Studies program are presenting posters with the theme of “Latitude 121° East: Locality in Our Time”. My poster is titled “Indigenous Rights in Taiwan and the Smangus Case”.

• Semester 2 at NCCU
• Another semester begins at NCCU
• End of semester at NCCU
• End of semester at Shi-Da
• Reading about Taiwanese History

The 11th Taipei Film Festival (台北電影節) is on from 26 June to 12 July. This year the film festival venues are all conveniently located in Ximending. Most screenings will be at the Shinkong Cineplex (新光影城) and Zhongshan Hall (中山堂). There are also some outdoor screenings at the Taipei Cinema Park (台北電影主題公園) and a special exhibition about director King Hu (胡金) in the Red Theatre (紅樓).

The festival’s Taipei Award acts as a showcase for Taiwanese cinema. The award has been expanded this year to include individual awards for Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Editing. The line up for the awards starts with Yang Yang (陽陽), directed by Cheng Yu-chieh (鄭有傑). It is the first film produced under Ang Lee’s “Pushing Hands Project” and is also the opening film of the festival. I reviewed the black comedy Parking (停車) last year. The other films in the Taipei Award are Ayu (遺落的玻璃珠), A Place of One’s Own (一席之地), Finding Her (查無此人), Miao Miao (渺渺), No Puedo Vivir Sin Ti (不能沒有你), Somewhere I Have Never Travelled (帶我去遠方) and the animated film Port of Return (靠岸).

The City Voices section this year focuses on Berlin. There is also a section for films from Latin America. There are several films on the theme of deafness screening in support of the upcoming Deaflympics. They are Beyond Silence, Talentime and  Island Etude (練習曲), a 2007 Taiwanese film about a young hearing impaired man who cycles around Taiwan.

Please check the festival website for exact times and dates. Most films have Chinese and English subtitles, but check to be sure. Tickets are available through www.artsticket.com.tw or venue box offices. I will post reviews of some films in the coming weeks.

• Taipei Film Festival opens tomorrow
• Working the streets
• 10th Taipei Film Festival
• Taiwanese cinema resurgent in 2008
• Article at culture.tw

The Taiwan Free Burma Network held a concert in Zhonghe last night to mark the birthday of Burmese democracy movement leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The concert called for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and all political prisoners in Burma. A Free Burma CD featuring music by Taiwanese artists was also released at the concert.

The concert in Zhonghe’s No. 4 Park kicked off with the Taiwan hip hop sounds of Kou Chou Ching  (拷秋勤). They gave a typically energetic performance and included shouts of “Free Burma” in some of their songs.

Kou Chou Ching were followed by T.C. Chang (張鐵志) & Blaire Ko (柯智豪) performing “Golden Flower” a song dedicated to Aung San Suu Kyi that is also on the Free Burma CD.

Indulge was the next band. The last band of the night was Tonic (主音樂團) pictured above.

Fish Lin of Kou Chou Ching is promoting the Free Burma CD in the photo above. The CD includes songs specially composed with lyrics related to Burma such as LTK’s “Burma’s Secret War”, Noun & Kane’s “Free Burma” and Punkgod’s “Happy Birthday to Aung San Suu Kyi”. Another Burmese connection is Underflow whose lead singer is from Burma. The CD is a wonderful show of Taiwanese support for the Burmese freedom struggle and a great collection of music by Taiwanese musicians. Details of where to buy the CD are here.

• Concert for Burma in Taipei
• Action for Burma in Taipei
• Words and music for Burma
• Free Burma protest in Taipei
• U-Theatre 20th anniversary concert

TFD was established in 2003 by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) and is modelled on the US National Endowment for Democracy. Although it receives much of its funding from the government it operates with a high degree of autonomy. The TFD is probably most well known for its annual Asia Democracy and Human Rights Award. The foundation has numerous programs to promote democracy in Asia through education, research and cooperation with NGOs. In January 2009 the TFD hosted the release of Freedom House’s annual report in Taipei.

Last week the Taiwan News reported that former KMT lawmaker Huang Te-fu was appointed to replace Lin Wen-cheng as the chief executive of the TFD. The change was pushed through by Su Chi, chief of the National Security Council and a key adviser to President Ma. This was contrary to ordinary practice where MOFA would submit a list to the Chairman of the TFD, Wang Jin-pyng who is the Speaker of the Legislative Yuan.

It is significant that this happened in the same week that President Ma announced his intention to become KMT Chairman. Wang is one of Ma’s key rivals in the KMT and this move sends a strong signal to Wang that Ma is in charge.

The Taipei Times had a story on the issue on its front page yesterday. The article cites a United Daily News (聯合報) article saying that Ma was not happy with the TFD providing financial support to Chinese democracy activists, Tibetan independence organizations and Cuban democracy activists. In the United Daily News article also included allegations by a government official that the TFD had asked Freedom House to criticise the KMT government. It shows the extraordinary sensitivity of the government to criticism as Freedom House’s annual report contained only mild criticism of Taiwan and didn’t downgrade its ranking.

The Taipei Times interviewed a TFD board member, who did not wish to be named, raising more concerns about government interference.

The board member said that while the TFD is supposed to operate independently despite receiving government funding, officials in Ma’s administration often intervene.

“For example, when we were organizing an event to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre, we were told which speakers to invite and which to not invite,” the board member said. “Our democracy is deteriorating.”

The Taiwan News have an editorial on the TFD today. The editorial argues that the attacks on the TFD are about pleasing China.

Ma and his acolytes clearly intend to muzzle Taiwan’s voice for democracy in order to curry favor with the PRC, whose CCP leaders are undoubtedly displeased with virtually all of the TDF’s activities.

This matter raises further questions about the Ma government’s commitment to safeguarding democracy and human rights in Taiwan. Despite the signing of two UN rights covenants which were recently submitted to the UN, other evidence seems to suggest that human rights are under attack in Taiwan. If the government really wants to avoid criticism from Freedom House it needs to demonstrate this through positive actions, not by intimidating its critics.

• Santa in Taipei
• Taiwanese should support democracy in China
• Promoting Taiwan’s tourism potential
• Four characters removed from Democracy Hall
• KMT values dictatorship above democracy

It was ten years ago today that I went down to my local 7-Eleven and discovered a brand new newspaper, the Taipei Times. I brought it instead of the Taiwan News* which I usually purchased at the time. Since then the Taipei Times has been my preferred newspaper in Taiwan.

A lot has changed in the last ten years in Taiwan. There has also been the rise of the internet in that time which has rapidly altered the business model for newspapers. It is doubtful that Taiwan can continue to support three English-language newspapers for much longer. The Taipei Times doesn’t carry much advertising and obviously survives via cross subsidisation from its Chinese-language sister paper the Liberty Times (自由時報).

The English-language papers don’t show many sign of adapting to the times though. Despite the importance of the internet, none of Taiwan’s English language newspapers have adopted any Web 2.0 features. None of the newspaper websites include any form of blog or have a Twitter account. The design of their websites vary from bad to atrocious.

Given that international media reports on Taiwan are so often filled with errors or lack of understanding of Taiwan’s position, it is important that Taiwan has its own English-language media outlets to reach out to the world. The Government Information Office recently launched Taiwan Today, a website to replace the Taiwan Journal. It carries translations of articles from the Chinese-language newspapers. As a government publication it is obviously going to select articles that paint a rosy picture of the government and its policies though.

Another major possible change that could take place in Taiwan’s media landscape is the increasing influence of media outlets from Hong Kong and China. These pose a real threat to Taiwan as they could potentially squeeze out Taiwan-based media as well as having a political agenda which threatens Taiwan’s freedom and independence. It is extremely important for democracy that the majority of Taiwan’s media is locally owned and represents the voices and opinions of the Taiwanese people.

With the changes taking place in the media it will be interesting to see which media outlets survive and what form they take in the coming years. My main suggestion to the Taipei Times is to pay some attention to their website rather than treating it as an afterthought. It might be difficult to generate significant revenues from a Taiwan-based news website, but printing newspapers with little advertising and low circulation is also a loss making exercise.

*Taiwan News changed its name from China News in 1999, but not sure of the exact date.

• Learning your own language
• Human trafficking in Taiwan
• Climate change is very real
• The slavery continues
• Formosa Betrayed coming soon