Screening of Mayaw Biho's Indigenous Documentaries Series with Director's Q&A

Mayaw Biho

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*Please be aware that this session follows British Summer Time (BST) .

Abstract

Part One: 10:00-11:20 Screening of Mayaw Biho's Indigenous Documentaries Series (BGLT)

Part Two: 11:30-12:50 Director Online Q&A Session in BGLT (Online via Microsoft Teams )

1. "As Life, As Pangcah" 如是生活　如是Pangcah

| 1998 | 27 mins | Taiwan |

Part oral history, part reflection on a culture at risk of being erased, this documentary presents a deep dialogue between a 94-year-old Pangcah chieftain and an indigenous filmmaker. Through words and songs, hunting trips and weaving of vines, the elderly chieftain lives and embodies the ways of the Pangcah people. He also recounts his frustrated attempts in defending traditional culture against Taiwan's encroaching modernity.

Award

• 1998 Annual ROC Documentary Awards - Excellence Award
• 1998 Margaret Mead Film Festival

2. "C'roh Is Our Name"  我們的名字叫春日

| 1997 | 34 mins | Taiwan |

The Pangcah people living in the urban area used to compete and win the dragon boat race every year, but only as hired agents in a festival event of the Han Taiwanese. In 1995, a team of Pangcah contestants decided to compete in the race under the names of their community and homeland, 'C'roh of Yuli, Hualien', striving for glory to honour their true origin.

3. "Children in Heaven" 天堂小孩

| 1997 | 13 mins | Taiwan |

Charged with violation of the Water Act, the indigenous community living under the San-ying Bridge was forced to witness their shelters and homes being torn down by the government every year, while the sand and gravel processing plant on the east bank grew larger and larger; the garbage mountain on the west bank higher and higher. This absurd cycle became so familiar that the children of the community began to build and demolish make-believe houses as a game.

Director Mayaw Biho

Mayaw Biho, a Pangcah filmmaker, likes to film, photograph, and write. He has been making films since 1995, now with more than 30 titles under his name, including ten about the indigenous Pangcah people. He was born in the Pangcah community of C'roh in Yuli Township, Hualien. His name 'Mayaw' means the guarding stars by the moon. While he was still a student of the Department of Radio, Television, and Film at the Shih Hsin University, he began to shoot documentary films about cultural and socio-political issues concerning the Pangcah people. Later, his cinematic focuses extended to the histories of other indigenous peoples and the Mainlander communities in Taiwan. His works have been frequently screened, nominated for, and winning awards from the Council for Cultural Affairs, the TIDF, the Taipei Film Festival, the Golden Harvest Awards for Outstanding Short Films, and the South Taiwan Film Festival. He has served as the chairperson of the Ethnic Affairs Commission for the Tainan City Government, and the director of the Taiwan Indigenous Television. In 2019, he established the first all-Pangcah speaking kindergarten in Taiwan. In all of his endeavours, he hopes to help those who have no chance to speak out to express what they want to say.

Organiser: Centre of Taiwan Studies

Contact email: hl55@soas.ac.uk

Sponsor: Taiwan Ministry of Culture & Taiwan Film and Audiovisual Institute X Taiwan Docs