Taiwan Docs

After working for a weather channel for two years, documentary filmmaker Huang Chi-mao began to pick up the camera himself and faithfully record bits and pieces of the Tao peoples' lives in a camera style very close to the subject.

The main subjects in this film are sixty-one year old Lin Xin-yu and his wife who live in the Yeyin tribe. Mr. Lin served before as the seventh term representative for Taidong, but his crafty political career didn't make him forget the simple, natural life of the Tao people. One afternoon, Mr. Lin said he wanted to go spear fishing. After a bit Huang Chi-mao, already familiar to Mr. Lin, joined him, took his camera along, and shot precious images of Mr. Lin spearing fish. Despite the tumultuous waves, he still speared five fishes with ease. At the same time, Mrs. Lin and their aount and uncle collected shellfish on the shore. These fish, the shellfish, and sweet potatoes later picked from the fields are the "Dishes of an Afternoon Meal" for the Lin family.

Tao people and sealife live together and exist together naturally. In the most primitive and simple ways and without bringing any harm or pollution, they collect each days sustenance and the tools needed to live. "If we want to eat fish, we just go to the sea in front of our house and swim around, if we want to eat something else, we just go to the fields behind and collect some sweet potatoes. Its the way life should be." This is the director's most valuable statement, and contented comfortable life was really intended to be like this.

Source: Taiwan Int'l Ethnographic Film Festival
http://www.tieff.sinica.edu.tw/ch/2001/part3/english-B2-1.jpg