Shattered Dreams

離鄉背井去打工

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There are more than 150,000 migrant workers from Thailand legally hired in Taiwan. To these migrant workers, working abroad in Taiwan is a risky gamble. If things go well, they can pay back large amounts of brokerage fees and earn some money to support their families.

The three Thai workers from northeastern Thailand in this film, however, weren’t so lucky. The electronic factory where they had been working was suddenly closed down. The owner of the factory simply said that he could not afford to pay the salaries of the 100 domestic workers and 100 migrant workers. After fighting futilely for their rights with other migrant and domestic workers, the Thai workers were eventually deported. Their dreams of paying back their debt or earning money to support their families were totally shattered. Would they give up their hopes in earning money from working abroad because of their bad experiences in Taiwan? This film offers an unexpected answer to this question.

Region of Origin

Year of Release

2003

Duration

98 minutes

Format

Betacam, Color

Directors

Lee Daw-ming Thumbnail

Lee Daw-ming

Lee Daw-Ming is a filmmaker and a film scholar. He graduated from the Master of Fine Arts Program in Film, Television and Radio at Temple University. He is an Associate Professor at Graduate Institute of Cinematic Art, Taipei National University of the Arts.