Taiwan Docs

As the film begins, one Orchid Islander says, "I often feel that the more research anthropologists do on this island, the worse the island is harmed..." This work is the visual anthropologist’s recorded answer to this question. The film director tries to use the camera to explore the disillusionment and frustration of the Yami people and of herself included. She moves between the islanders and outsiders, using people of three identities and three appearances to reflect on the contradictions and conflict that follow with the meeting of the Yami people and external influences. Fear of tourists? In the first part we observe Yami (Orchid Islanders) opposition to the spectators' cameras and the perception and requirements of money. Fear of evil ghosts? The second part reveals a Bunun who volunteered as a medical doctor to serve in Orchid Island telling of his own inherent doubts and reveals the worries and frustrations vis-à-vis modern medical concepts and local traditional beliefs. Fear of the nuclear waste plant? In the third part two young local nuclear protesters and demonstration organizers face the camera directly and tell their personal reasons for their actions. They speak of their own special way of life and the threat of its destruction. After the film was completed it toured the villages of Orchid Island and received enthusiastic responses.

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