wfn.org | Cape No.7 director planning a historical movie on aboriginal Taiwanese

["Lydia Ma" <enews@pctpress.org>]

>Taiwan Church News

>2969-2970 Edition

>January 19~February 1, 2009

Cape No.7 director planning a historical movie on aboriginal Taiwanese

>Reported by Chiou Kuo-rong

>Written by Lydia Ma

Taiwan’s famous movie director Wei Te-sheng visited Yushan  Theological College and Seminary earlier this month in preparation for  his upcoming film production, Seediq Bale, scheduled to begin filming in  October 2009. Wei, a member of the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan (PCT),  rose to stardom with the release of award-winning movie Cape No.7 in  2008. The new movie will focus on the truth behind the Wushe Incident  – the biggest and the last rebellion against Japanese colonial forces  in Taiwan, resulting in a massacre. The cause of the rebellion is  attributed to Japanese policy toward Taiwanese tribal natives, who were  considered lower class people.

During his visit, Wei met with Seediq aboriginals and faculty members of  Taiwan Theological College and Seminary. The seminary’s Pastoral  Education Department Chairman, Lin Yueh-dao, said he was pleased to hear  Wei would soon start filming Seediq Bale and was looking forward to  seeing the movie. He was confident it would inspire dialogue in  Taiwanese society as everyone reviewed events surrounding the Wushe  Incident in 1930. Lin hopes the movie will shed some truth on the  incident and awaken national consciousness among Taiwanese people so  that more citizens will treasure and defend their national autonomy.

Wei Te-sheng and his crew visited the seminary on January 4th and  received a warm reception from the seminary’s President Pusin Tali,  and other faculty members. Pastor Lin remarked that “Bale” is  a Seediq native word meaning “real man”. From the title of the  film, Lin believes that Wei wants to use the film as a means to educate  the public on what really happened during the Wushe Incident and point  out that aboriginals were not merely prisoners and slaves of the  Japanese during Taiwan’s colonization, but were also “real  men”. Ever since Taiwan was colonized by outsiders, aboriginal  people have always been patronized, misunderstood, and demonized.

Judging from the success of recent movies dealing with Taiwanese  history, which also drew many politicians to theatres, Lin is confident  that Seediq Bale will also have a considerable effect on the national  political arena. He hopes it will prompt many Taiwanese to reflect and  realize that the nation’s sovereignty belongs to the Taiwanese and  the country is not a province belonging to China. Furthermore, Lin hopes  the movie will resuscitate the long-forgotten “Aboriginal Basic  Law” and challenge the nation to review the human rights and  self-governance rights of aboriginals once more.

Wei Te-sheng and his crew spent one whole day visiting Seediq aboriginal  leaders and sharing many ideas with them. They gave Wei their full  support for the movie. According to sources, Wei wants to use the movie  to describe how aboriginal people fought against their Japanese  colonizers in the Wushe Incident and use it to portray Taiwanese  people’s courage and resolve to protect their country. It is  estimated that production costs for Seediq Bale will exceed $10 million  USD. Wei hopes to use films as means to propel Taiwan into the  international arena to let the world see Taiwanese people’s  determination and spirit.

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