Left: Heather Tsui, right: interviewer Hong Tong Wu (Photographer: Tammy Chang (Cinemasia))
The current human endeavor for “progress” seems to wipe out diversity in languages and minorities. The film Long Time No Sea 只有大海知道 screened at Cinemasia Filmfestival tells the story of the Tao, the indigenous people living on the small Orchid Island of Taiwan. The Tao has lived on the Island for more than 800 years. There are only 3,000 Tao people left. How are the Tao tear apart between their traditional way of living and the demands of modern life? What will the world miss if the Tao disappears? Listen to CRTVs interview (Mandarin) with the maker of this film, Heather Tsui.
Director Huang Hui-chen from Taiwan turns the camera on her lesbian mother in hopes of repairing their fractured relationship. In intense one-on-one interviews, Huang asks her mother probing questions that she would not be able to ask without the filtering distance of her camera. This documentary won the Teddy Award at Berlin Film Festival.
