Taiwan Docs

In 1997, the Taipei City Government suddenly abolished the Taipei City Licensed Prostitution Control Measure, and overnight, 128 licensed prostitutes lost their legal right to work. They were forced to take to the streets to fight for a two-year grace period. They bravely stood up to face the public and let them know about this group of “thàn-chia̍ h-chabó” (women who make a living with their bodies). Who were they? Why did they need this job?

We knew little about Bailan. During the protest, she was one of the few ladies of the night who did not cover their faces. Activists assisting in the protest described her as a sex worker who was content to live a simple life. Each day, she would serve two or three clients, decide she had earned enough for the day, and spend the money on the stray cats in the alley behind the brothel. Other ladies in the brothel said that, despite struggling to feed herself, she was generous to the cats.

In 2005, Bailan suddenly fell into a coma.

Life after the abolition of legal prostitution was extremely difficult. As one of the volunteers who kept Bailan company and helped her recover, the documentarian gradually pieced together the stigma and pain of life as a prostitute. Using intricate takes as well as archive footage from different periods, this film presents the ruthless oppression of everyday people by policy and politics while also highlighting the warmth of relationships between people and those between people and cats.