Taiwan Week: Whale Island

WHALE ISLAND

Taiwan | 2020 | 1h 48m

Mandarin (with English subtitles)

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Awards:

• Media Award - Taipei Film Awards 2020
• Nominations for: Best documentary, music and sound design - Taipei Film Awards 2020
• Best of festival & International Documentary Summer 2020 - Depth of Field International Festival

U.S. Premiere

Synopsis:

Taiwan is an island. Although it is surrounded by the sea, its people fear the sea since the history and the religious beliefs held on this island make people turn their backs to the sea. Oceanic literature author Liao Hung-chi and underwater photographer Ray Chin lead the audience out to the sea and into the water. They prompt us to understand the sea and to think about the possibility that the ocean might become our lives and the future of our living land.Taiwan is not only an island but also a sleeping whale. Since a whale does not belong to the land, it has to wake up and swim towards its future full of possibilities.

About the director:

Huang Chia-chun graduated in film from the Department of Radio, Television & Film at Shih Hsin University and earned an MFA from  the Graduate School of Applied Media Arts at National Taiwan University of Arts. In addition to making documentaries, commercials and television dramas, Huang works on script, film and artistic creation. He has an acute sense of observing people and society, and his works are known for his warm-hearted approach and the depth and the power that move the audience. Huang loves tackling the issues that no one has explored and expects to quietly change the world in a down-to-earth tone.

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