Builders and actors--the Atayal play both these roles in the film about their cultural legacy. (Courtesy of My Homeland Studio)
By June Tsai
Making a movie can be a form of community empowerment and that is just what the new "Once Upon A Time" has accomplished. Shot in a remote Atayal village in the wilds of northern Taiwan, the community of the indigenous people became both the subject of, and actors in, the film that won a Platinum Remi Award in the ethnic/culture category at the 41st WorldFest Houston International Film Festival in April.
Famous for their face tattooing and weaving, the Atayal --one of Taiwan's 14 indigenous peoples--are spread across the mountain regions in northern, central and eastern Taiwan, a result of the tribe's migrations since the mid-18th century.
Today, the spread of Atayal villages overlaps the borders of modern day Shei-pa National Park and to showcase the indigenous group's life and traditions, the park's administration commissioned the making of a film.
"It all started with making an informational production on the Atayal," said producer Lu Szu-yueh, director of My Homeland Studio--a community empowerment group. "But it ended up larger than anything we expected."
Under sponsorship of the national park headquarters and later backed by a Ford Motor Company Conservation & Environmental Grant, a project team was formed comprising of writer Walis Nokan, filmmakers Chen Wen-pin and Pilin Yapu, members of the Research Centre for Austronesian Peoples under Providence University, Taichung County, as well as Lu's company.
"We decided the Atayal should be engaged in the film about them," Lu explained. "Once Upon A Time" thus became an Atayal-language film by Atayal people on the migration of their tribe.
A traditional settlement was re-created for the film's setting in Cinsbu Village of Jianshih Township, Hsinchu County. Under tribal elders' instruction, more than 400 Atayal residents from Cinsbu and neighboring Hsin-kwan Village participated in constructing traditional Atayal buildings including the chief's house, granary and watchtower.
"Old Atayal housing could not have been created by set designers or an outside construction team, it had to be built by the Atayal," Chen insisted. "The building process is significant for our aboriginal friends, representing the revitalization of their traditional crafts and workmanship."
After finishing construction, the builders became actors in the film that was to tell the story of their ancestors, traditionally believed to have come from Mount Dabajian, one of the highest peaks in Shei-pa National Park.
"Originally, I planned to make a documentary on the Atayal," Chen said. "But following months of field studies in various villages throughout Taiwan, I realized that centuries of migration and mixing with other societies had expanded the tribe's make-up. This meant that the subject matter was now too broad for my original idea, so I switched to a feature film that focuses on one thing that all the Atayal share--the Gaga," Chen said. The Gaga refers to an ancient tale of three brothers setting out to find suitable land for cultivating and hunting. "So we thought we should tell a story about the Gaga, about the tribe's migration, as an essential way of life and a relationship with the nature," he explained.
"Tradition has been broken over the course of history, yet by participating in this film, the Atayal people are rediscovering their past," said Yurow Yukan, an Atayal aborigine who played village chief in the movie and is the only professional actor in the film. "We envisioned and experienced how our ancestors had lived and migrated, and where lies the spirit of the Gaga," he added.
For Chen and his team, the filmmaking process also amounted to an opportunity for improving mutual understanding between aborigines and non-aborigines.
"I found myself rewriting the script and storyline on each day of filming," the director said. "The feelings of the actors on the day of shooting, dreams they had the night before--these could all dictate the storyline of that day. And actually, soliciting their views on many details and incorporating them in the film is the best way of communication and getting things done."
It took the team a lengthy period of two years to complete the 24-minute movie, but more is to come from the project's organizers. Based on the prize-winning film, Chen is now working on a standard feature picking up on the themes of that ancient story of migration. Chen's new offering looks at the Atayal's modern day travels as they seek work away from home, but return to their villages longing to reconnect with their heritage. Pilin Yapu, an independent Atayal filmmaker, is editing another film that documents the whole process of making "Once Upon A Time."
More significantly, on completion of the movie, the recreated traditional settlement became an Atayal-owned property. Cinsbu and Hsin-kwan villagers have formed a committee to manage it while promoting tourism and traditional industries. Some film companies have already expressed interest in renting the site.
"Once Upon A Time" was also selected as Best Film at the New Beijing International Movie Week in June and will be screened at the Moscow International Visual Anthropology Festival in October.
This article first appeared in Taiwan Journal Sep. 4, 2008.
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