Available Shows

ONE WAY TO SEE TAIWAN

Organized by Damansara Performing Arts Centre (DPAC)

Supported by Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Malaysia

Organized by the Damansara Performing Arts Centre (DPAC) and supported by the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Malaysia, “One Way to See Taiwan” will kick off once again this October! DPAC will present 7 Taiwanese films for free at its theatre on October 15, 16, 22, 23, 29, and 30, and fully welcomes the public to participate in this uniquely Taiwanese cultural journey!

 Seeing the different aspects of Taiwan’s life experiences

Autumn in October—beautiful season, harvest season, golden season. In October, DPAC will select 7 Taiwanese films from the “Taiwan Cinema Toolkit” for a free screening (which comprises of 2 short films and 5 full length films), giving people the rare opportunity to enjoy Taiwanese films that have not seen official release at Malaysian cinemas.

Films capture moments, and these films undeniably capture life in Taiwan across various periods—offering vivid glimpses through a culturally-specific lens, never once shying away from thematic diversity. Taiwanese culture—whether in art, life, or otherwise—permeate in multi-faceted stories of sorrow and joy in the lives of migrant workers; life, death, and the hands of fate; Taiwan’s political history; homage, nostalgia, and romance; familial conflict and the paranormal; and grassroots culture and history.

Film Synopses

Money and Honey 面包情人 - 15/10/2018（Monday）, 7:30PM

为了让两个女儿年大学，来自菲律宾的罗莉塔离开家人，离乡背井到了台湾安阳原工作，他自我解嘲唱着No Money, No Honey！罗莉塔在安阳元认识了活泼开朗的贝比、美丽的玛琳、热情的艾琳，他们彩衣娱亲为台湾子女尽孝道，年复一年日复一日照顾衰老的身躯，却又不免感到自身之寂寞。面对『面包与情感』的两难，他们该如何抉择？多年之后，几位菲妈已回乡、几位则是继续留在台湾，他们的梦想实现了吗？实现梦想需付出哪些代价呢？

 《面包情人》为李靖惠导演<加国系列纪录片>终曲。本片拍摄历时13年，导演横跨台湾与菲律宾两国，拍下菲妈乐观的态度、生命的韧性，也展露出拍摄者与被拍摄者之间建立的深厚情谊。本片不仅记录台湾和菲律宾的雇佣关系、菲妈与老人动人的情感，更剖析人生价值的选择，以及面包与情感在人生中孰轻孰重的衡量

“Honey, I am away to make money, because No Money, No Honey!”

Money and Honey is an Asian documentary that spans thirteen years. It intimately portrays the lives of Filipino migrant workers and the elders they attend in a nursing home in Taipei. On this foreign island, the female caregivers look after the ageing residents. In the flow of life, stories of joy and sorrow take place. The caregivers comfort themselves by singing “No money, no honey”. What’s the price they pay for love and bread? Will their dreams ever come true? In longing do we taste the flavor of money and honey? Money and Honey also records the development of a unique female friendship, as the director became a messenger whose camera relayed the feelings and thoughts of the migrant workers and their families to each other.

Connection by Fate 超级公民 - 16/10/2018（Tuesday）, 7:30PM

阿德曾是一名狂热的社运分子，遭逢丧子之痛与妻子离异，改行开计程车。原住民青年马勒，只身于台北建筑工地谋生，由于不堪压榨，马勒一时动怒杀死工地主任，因此被判死刑。马勒杀人的夜晚，阿德曾用计程车载他一程，两人命运从此交织。一个有身无魂的落魄中年人，一个有魂无身的年轻原住民，开始结伴幽荡于台北都会……

万仁（导演）透过一阴一阳、一汉一原的互动与辩证，展现更多面对生死的哲理与气度，并让台北这座被不少九O年代艺文工作者视作无深度、无历史的『后现代城市』，呈现它沉淀丰饶的历史地层。万仁在刻画年轻的生命因各种暴力而悲剧性地受害、亡逝的主题，在《超级公民》中推至更为政治性的反省：在政治成为功利化、权谋化的现实斗争之后，当初那些纯粹剔透的、吸引多少年轻心灵热情投注的理想精神，似乎逐渐丧志绝望，最后只有选择死亡。

A-Te used to be a social movement fanatic. But after suffering the pain of divorce and the death of his child, he changed his profession and became a taxi driver. Ma Le, a young aboriginal man, came to Taipei alone to earn a living on construction sites. However, unable to bear the exploitation, and in a rage, Ma Le accidentally killed a site superintendent and was sentenced to death. A-Te gave Ma Le a ride in his taxi on the night that Ma Le committed the killing and their two fates were thereafter intertwined. Director WAN Jen demonstrates a more philosophical and sympathetic approach facing life and death through the interaction and dialectic between the dead and living characters, and between a Han and an aboriginal. As politics becomes a manipulative and utilitarian power struggle with reality, the pure idealistic spirit, which attracted the devotion of many young souls, seems to gradually sink into desperation and despair, and in the end, death is the only option.

Super Citizen Ko 超级大国民 - 22/10/2018（Monday）, 7:30PM

坐牢多年的政治犯许毅生，出狱后又因内疚而闭居养老院，与当代的台湾社会脱节约三十年。他年轻时参加读书会被捕，严刑拷打下招供出一位朋友，因而使其被判处极刑，常年深埋内心的愧疚，致使许毅生结束隐居生活，希望在临终前，找到朋友的荒坟，向其郑重致歉。整个寻访的旅程中，他看见的不只是『白色恐怖』年代的昔日足迹，还有戒严后台湾种种社会、政治景况。

浓烈悲情的《超级大国民》以迄今仍充满误解与曲解的『白色恐怖』为主题，刻画一位老政治犯重返显示、回到台北的旅程；他在实践与空间、历史与城市、记忆与现实之间，恍惚来回。万仁不但针对国内政治团体长久可以忽略、回避、曲解的『白色恐怖』。以五O年代理想主义的政治犯，尖锐对比了九O年代选举政治里的黑金政客，更以沉而厚的笔触，将『内省』与『赎罪』的母题腿伤诗意的高峰，获得最高的艺术成就。

The film narrates the political history of Taiwan over a period of 50 years, following the imposition of martial law in 1947 and ‘The White Terror.’ Suspected of being a leftist, KO spent around 30 years in prison and institutions, always obsessively worrying about the fate of his best friend CHEN executed in the 1950s. Their friendship and CHEN’s fate is chronicled in flashback. Soon after his release, KO goes in search of the truth and a part of himself. Only when he learns the truth is he able to pay his respects. The intense and sad film depicts the mind of KO as he wanders back and forth through time and space, history and the city, memory and reality. Using an idealistic political prisoner from the 50s to form a poignant contrast with the corrupt politicians of the 90s, Director WAN thrusts the motifs of “introspection” and “redemption” to the poetic summit using thick and heavy brush strokes, resulting in a great artistic achievement.

Forever Love 阿嬷的梦中情人 - 23/10/2018（Tuesday）, 7:30PM

阿公和阿嬷的一段不了情，源自台语片最赞的六零年代，当时台语电影几乎都在北投取景，当地亦被人称为『台湾好莱坞』。台语片演员万宝龙曾是炙手可热的一代小生，每次随片登台都吸引无数粉丝争睹巨星风采，乡下女工蒋美月为了追星，不惜翻墙闯入戏院后台，却偶然邂逅陷入低潮的编剧才子刘奇生，因而获得演出机会，得以一亲万宝龙的芳泽！随着一场场意外暴风接踵而至，小小的台语片场内，竟上演了一齣比大荧幕故事还要曲折离奇、魔幻缤纷的怀旧恋曲。

数十年后，年迈的美月罹患失智症，眼前现实逐渐与回忆和幻想混淆不清，她开始宣称自己是明星万宝龙的太太，孙女小婕不解阿嬷为何总是对此人念念不忘，终于，阿公向她诉说起这段当年发生在『台湾好莱坞』的隽永爱情

Forever Love pays tribute to Taiwan’s local film industry in the 1960s when Taiwanese dialect films were cheap, stars were gods, and spies, giant monsters, and flying swordsmen crossed paths every day during lunch. In the summer of 1969, LIU, a top screenwriter is capable of cranking out multiple scripts at a time. But he is sick of writing the Spy No. 7 movie series for egotistic superstar WAN Bao-Long. But his grumpy shell is cracked when he meets star-struck Mei-Yue trying to sneak backstage at a premiere. Falling head over heels in love, he casts her in the upcoming Spy No. 7 sequel. This decision leads to a bittersweet romance spanning decades. Told in sweetly-campy flashbacks and semi-animated inserts, this nostalgic comedy set during the heyday of Taiwanese language cinema is a love letter to Taiwan’s history as much as it is a romance for the ages.

A Piece of Cake 简单作业 - 29/10/2018（Monday）, 7:30PM

学校指定的作业，让平时忙于工作的父亲，不甘愿地带着儿子David回到从小生长的老家。他们一路从繁华的城市，赶回到风景优美的小镇，也让父亲有机会穿越时空，重新看到自己的故乡。简单的学校作业却引出一个尘封已久的家族秘密，让父亲意外地流泪不止，不仅开罄出丰沛的情感力度，更照了台湾城乡的近代发展史。

本片以绝佳的闽南语旁白为主轴，运用饶富趣味的俚语、行云流水的口白，创造出一场紧凑悬疑、万分生动的讲古时间，形式独特的黑白动画更为本片创造出缤纷的想像空间。

This exquisite black-and-white animated short poignantly explores a personal family story in an innovative fashion, and casts a nostalgic gaze at Taiwanese grassroots culture and history. David, a high school student in Taipei, has to finish a school assignment, which requires the students to conduct an oral interview with a senior family member. All his relatives live in the countryside far away from the city. Therefore, he urges his father to give him a ride to his grandfather’s. The two travel from the bustling city to a scenic small town in a rural area. While revisiting his hometown and childhood, his son’s simple assignment unexpectedly brings back precious memories, complex family history, and torrential fears for the father.

Badu’s Homework 风中的小米田 - 29/10/2018（Monday）, 7:30PM

一所山上部落的小学，一个原住民小米田的功课，让五年级的八度展开寻找小米田的探险行程。在课堂上听到老师提出小米跟原住民的故事后，八度突然举手发问，小米是什么？这个鸡婆的问题，让老师出了一个『寻找小米真正模样』的家庭作业。为了不让喜欢的老师失望，八度回家问大人，小米田在哪里？大人都说，早就没小米田了，还骂老师无聊。

发了疯要找到小米田的八度，跟最要好的朋友伊万结伴出发寻找。他们询问打猎的族人，按着猎人的指示走入深山，结果两人竟然大打出手。星期一，要交作业了，八度怀着忐忑不安的心情到学校去……

透过两位顽皮男孩的纯真眼眸、飞跃脚步，本片将原住民土地、传统文化存续等严肃的人文议题，融入这个风趣而生动的故事之中，清新而隽永。

The teacher at an aboriginal primary school nestled in the mountains gives the students a weekend assignment for which the students must try and find out “what millet is really like.” After all, it is traditional food that children should know all about. Badu goes home and asks the adults where the millet fields are, and they tell him there haven’t been any millet fields for ages. He then takes his best friend with him on a search deep into the mountain wilderness. On Monday, Badu’s classmates turn in their work. One has handed in a bottle of millet wine, another has written a poem about millet, and only Badu has nothing to show for his efforts. But Badu’s grandmother comes running over to the school to tell him she has planted millet seeds, and next year when the winds come she will take his class to see the millet.

Soul 失魂 - 30/10/2018（Tuesday）, 7:30PM

阿川在日本料理店担任厨师，某晚工作时突然昏倒，紧急送医却查不出病因，同事将他送回山上老家静养。见到父亲和姐姐，阿川却一脸感到陌生，浑身散发诡异的气息。某天父亲回家发现女儿倒在血泊之中，儿子阿川却坐在一旁面无表情，父亲问：『你是谁？你不是我儿子。』阿川冷冷回答：『我看这身体空着，就住进来了。』

儿子的一场失魂，让杀人疑云雪上加霜，父亲费劲千心为家族洗刷嫌疑，收拾残局，但藏得了尸体，却盖不住如雪球般越滚越大的谜团和重重危机。究竟阿川是失心疯，还是真被邪灵附身？导演钟孟宏混合悬疑、灵异、家庭冲突等各类型元素，并化名为摄影师中岛长雄，亲手打造氤氲山林中的诡丽摄影风格，在台湾电影系谱中另辟蹊径，挥洒出自成一格的独特神采。

A-Chuan is a quiet thirty-year old who works as a chef in a Japanese restaurant in Taiwan. One day, without apparent reason, he falls into a coma, and wakes up in a strange mental state. As if under a spell, he doesn’t respond to any external stimulus, and doesn’t speak or eat. He is taken back to the mountains, the place where his father lives and grows orchids. His father and sisters are puzzled—until violence explodes within and around A-Chuan, setting off a series of unexpected events. A fascinating and chilling psychological thriller of demonic possession and the mysterious happenings surrounding it, Soul probes a father-son relationship shattered by a foreign presence and unspoken family secrets. 

Date/Time:

15-30 October 2018