The Hakka Affairs Council (HAC) is cooperating with the Taitung County Film Archive Association (台東縣影音紀錄學會) to launch an advanced training program on archiving audiovisual materials and recording oral history with local elders in eastern Taiwan. HAC Minister Lee Yung-de attended the opening ceremony of the program at the Media Archive Center for Taitung Hakka Communities on July 20.
Minister Lee thanked Han Bi-feng (韓筆鋒), a film director and head of a local community development association, for promoting the program. Lee hoped that every unique story in the Hakka regions of Taiwan can be widely presented through the cinematography developed by the trainees. He further declared that HAC will fully support the groups which are devoted to documenting the development of Hakka villages.
He recalled that, when serving as the president of Public Television Service Foundation (PTS), he had produced a TV program called “Viewpoint (紀錄觀點),” which collects documentaries by local filmmakers. The PTS program has cultivated many outstanding talents while presenting Taiwanese society from multiple perspectives, Lee added. Hence, he suggested that Hakka TV could follow the example set by PTS.
Lee pointed out that documentaries and short films seldom rely on big-budget
visual effects, and that he regards a 5-minute short film called “A Grocery
Called Forever (有家小店叫永久)” by
renowned director Wu Nien-jen (吳念真) as the epitome of small-budget success. Without a
star-studded cast, the film was propped up by amateur actors, including Paper
Windmill Theatre (紙風車劇團) co-founder Lee Yung-feng (李永豐), his mother, and his neighbors, which gave
audience members considerable insight into a story about an old grocery store
in a rural village.
Many excellent lecturers have been invited for the program, including Chairperson of Taiwan Hakka Audiovisual Archiving Association Peng Chi-yuan (彭啟原), Dean of Department of Popular Performing Arts at Chung Yu University Yu Kan-ping (虞戡平), Supervisor of the Editing Association of ROC Liu Shao-yung (劉少庸), cinematographer Yu Chi-shiang (于吉祥), Hakka TV News anchor Lin Chiu-ling (林秋伶), Hakka TV News reporter Chen Chun-ming (陳君明), CTV News reporter Lai Yung-cheng (賴永成), PTS reporter Chang Ming-che (章明哲), Hakka teacher Huang Hsueh-tang (黃學堂), and Taitung County cultural official Chiang Chu-shan (姜柷山).
Lee expects the trainees to learn from the experience of senior professionals and explore different perspectives on Hakka communities. The program will end on Sept. 9, and the audiovisual works completed by the trainees will be played at outdoor cinemas in Hakka villages across Taitung from Sept. 20 through Oct. 27.