Lin Wen-ling (Director, TIEFF 2009)
Reflections on body and soul
Over the past 20 years, the body has shifted from a fairly peripheral social fact to a core idea in the fields of anthropology and sociology. Knowledge and discourse pertaining to health and healing have come to hold an increasingly significant standing. In the past, sociologists and anthropologists theorized the body and healing based on their own disciplinary presumptions. In sociology, the body was primarily understood as subject to social structure, while in anthropology it was examined through the lens of culture as formed amid the interaction between the individual and the collective. The ways that each field developed to view the body taught us how to better understand human beings, unlocking a wealth of knowledge, but it also resulted in significant constraints. Viewing the body from social structural or cultural perspective, individual perception and subjective experience have by contrast remained relatively unexplored.
In recent years, we have continuously reflected on the topics of the body, health, and healing, especially with the prevalence of the Western medical system. Under the value system created by the medical model, people are seen as the sum of their parts. Illnesses are caused by bacteria and viruses, so doctors destroy these invaders or defend against them in order to repair the body. The physical and mental are compartmentalized and the body is seen as a machine that can be repaired.
Scholars in the humanities and social sciences have recently turned their attention to questions of the body, probing into the effects of the modern medical system on the body, mind, and soul. Examining this convergence in modern society encouraged us to propose Body and Soul as the theme for this film festival and its learning activities. We succeeded in attracting exciting documentaries from around the world, featuring different cultures, beliefs, medical systems, and ideas about illness. Through screenings, study, and lectures, we can discuss, research, and examine the profound subjects of the body, health, and healing in very understandable terms. On a premise that covers both holistic observation and individual experience, we can lead attendees on a deep exploration of all aspects of the topic.
TIEFF 2009’s cross-cultural perspective aims to show the variety of different treatments that have been developed by different cultures and societies to promote a healthy body and soul. These treatments include shaman healers in aboriginal societies, traditional remedies, modern medicine, alternative medicine, and spiritual healing. During this year’s festival, we hope that through the prism of the various cultures featured, we can increase our understanding of our bodies and souls and gain insights on how to best keep them healthy.
Seven Screening Categories
While the theme of the fifth Taiwan International Ethnographic Film Festival is Body and Soul, we also welcomed the submission of outstanding new cultural documentaries on any subject completed within the last two years (2007–2009). A total of 34 vivid and moving documentaries were chosen for screening. We hope that these selections can give our audience a deeper understanding of body and soul as well as the development of medical treatments. As we reflect on these topics and empathize with others, we can in turn pay increased attention to the body and soul and have more respect for those around us. At the same time, we hope that these films can expand viewer knowledge of the rich cultures of the world’s diverse ethnic groups and societies.
The variety of exciting films chosen for the festival, on and off-theme, led to the following seven categories of films in TIEFF 2009:
Directors in Focus:
Directors in Focus introduces two films by the highly regarded team of American ethnographic filmmakers Timothy and Patsy Asch and anthropologist Linda Conner. The two classics, A Balinese Trance Séance and Releasing the Spirits: A Village Cremation in Bali, are part of the filmmakers’ series on the beliefs and rituals of Bali.
TIEFF 2009’s Directors in Focus section also introduces Bilin Yabu, a member of Taiwan’s Atayal Tribe, and his two films that delve into Atayal culture and aboriginal identity, power, and conflict: The Stories of Rainbow and Through Thousands Years. These two films were produced 10 years apart. From them, we can examine how the director pierces the surface, digging deep into the varied intertwining relationships between cultural exchange, communication, and conflict the Atayal people face.
An Imperfect Life:
There are nine films in this section that explore the body, our senses, and the soul through different physical and mental conditions, portraying how misfortune and unfavorable living conditions affect people’s lives. The following nine stimulating films are featured in this section: Seeing Freezing Life—The Most Intimate Computer Family, Leprous Life, Transparent Time, Lady Camellia, Bilal, The Long Walk, Today the Hawk Takes One Chick, Voices from El Sayed, and People Say I’m Crazy.
Along the Path:
Birth, aging, illness, and death are major challenges faced in life, especially when we are not prepared. During our pain and sorrow as we see others go through these experiences, or we do so ourselves, we must still face reality, as we continuously yearn for and remember those loved ones who have already gone. FAMILY, Hard Good Life 2, and Trekking in Wind and Rain are three moving films that deal with life and death, the most basic issues we face.
Shaman Healing:
This section includes Between, Fate of the Lhapa, Living with the Invisibles, and The SHADOW, four films bursting with vibrant culture that explore how the shamans from different cultures shuttle between the realms of good and evil to prevent disasters and remove adversity. These films are rare treats that should not be missed.
Local Viewpoints:
Rowing the Cinat; Men’s Ocean, Women’s Calla Lily Field; Desert Brides; In My Father’s Country; and Menstruation have been placed in the Local Viewpoints category. These five films use different topics as jumping off points, but have a common purpose of getting closer to the viewpoints, thoughts, and concerns of the people involved. By getting so close to their subjects, we are privy to the interactions between the group and the outside world, and between members of different classes and genders within the group. From this perspective, we can get a unique viewpoint on how people in each culture themselves view the issues.
Roots and Routes:
Small Steps on a Long Road, The Sixth Resettlement, The Lost Buddha, Suddenly Sami,In Search of the Hamat’sa: A Tale of Headhunting and Jerusalem(s)portray stories common to almost every society: Those separated from their culture search endlessly and walk down innumerable roads before they can once again return home, literally or figuratively. Only after such a journey, can their origins begin to become clearer.
Rhapsody in Reel Life:
Sing It!, The Captive, and Patrasche, a Dog of Flanders, Made in Japan show us the many intricacies of life. The joys and sorrows we experience crystallize into the power to ignite a multitude of wonders and expand our horizons.
A Variety of Activities
2009/10/02 (Friday)
On the afternoon of TIEFF 2009’s opening day, we will hold an international forum to try to answer the question: “Just how close can a filmmaker get…?” We have invited directors and experts in visual images to discuss how filmmakers, in a world of the physical, mental, and spiritual along with illness and sensory experience, captured these subjective personal experiences through the lens and then turned into a visual story for others to view? How close can the camera get? We discuss how the development and extension of emotions, feelings, and mutual understanding that grow from the relationship between the filmmaker and their subjects eventually crystallize into the film that appears on the screen. Through holding this forum, TIEFF 2009 will earnestly look at these thought-provoking stories and also at the paths taken to create them.
During the festival, a variety of people involved in filmmaking from around the world will be on hand for face-to-face exchanges and conversations with the audience. They will share the various perceptions, understanding, and actions different societies and cultures have towards the body, soul, the five senses, and how they experience the world. During the festival, we have also set up a special space where attendees can both view and interact. We have invited various groups and organizations dedicated to healing and care of the body and mind to set up booths to provide services or consultation to attendees to allow for interface between images portrayed to the viewers and the real world.