There is a shining place is every cities for young people to dream. For those who live outside Taipei City, they called themselves village kids, the biggest dream among them is to get into the colleges in the city, to be a real city person. They are, however, disappointed by the reality in the city, the low salary and small living space, what they get from job is even lower than that in 15 years ago. The young people on the island tend to choose another option: go south. They choose to develop their real life and career in the less shining places, to be a young farmer, to own a small coffee shop, they get to know that the world is much bigger than they expect when they decide to leave the air conditioned office; how does corn really grow, how to raise a cow that costs 100k NTD, will pig sleep at night; they may think that the plants will grow naturally once they sow the seed, but it is not, there is a great philosophy in growing. Tired to the pressure and repetition in the city, they think they will be able to enjoy the small happiness in the small village, it is not an easy path as they expected, how do they face the reality?
It is not easy for Taiwanese to buy a flat. The new president of Taiwan promise to provide homes for every young people, but the reality is, it takes 12 years for a young gentleman to buy a flat in the city even though he will not spend any of his salary on food or others. The average price of the flats in Taipei is more than 6.5 million HKD, it is even too high for the HongKonger, not to mention the average monthly salary of Taiwanese is just 60% of that in Hong Kong. The property developer skillfully make the flat even smaller as the purchasing power of Taiwanese keep decreasing, the new flats in the city is just 240 sq ft, but three parking lot included, this is the only way for the developer to price it as luxury flats; and it is ironic that the potential can’t even refuse to buy three parking lots altogether, this is the reality. Four young people graudated from the reputed college in the city believe, they can have a better life though they don’t have hugh amount of wealth, not to protest, but to fight against the unreasonable property price with a soft approach revolution, this brings a new hope to the young people in the city.
Taiwanese aborigines are often viewed as mysterious . Their culture is very different from that of the Han Chinese. Studying alone in Taiwan, a Hongkonger-Wu Kin encounters the Paiwan Tribe. Their carefree nature and sentiment captivate him and fill the void in his heart. Bounded by the love for Paiwan, he’s become the tribe’s adopted son. Feeling alienated from her people ever since a child, Kao Kuan Fen, the young Chieftain’s path as leader is fraught with difficulties. Yet, Wu Kin makes her realize that the Paiwan culture is rich and unique. The non-blood siblings work hard in their on ways to renew and impart culture for the coming generations.
They are the generation with no fear. They are the generation from the student revolution in Taiwan. They did the action that adults want to do but never do: they fight against the secret deals and occupy the congress. These young leaders have a brand new start in different aspects after the revolution, one of them become the youngest congressman in the history, and the other one unexpectedly become a young and capable CEO. Adults in the society used to complain for the inactiveness of the young people, and it is now changed. After the brightness of the revolution, what are the internal struggle of these young people? After the big scale movement, what can they do to really change the world? A real revolution led by young people is remarkable in our generation.
Beep baseball has a noisemaker inside emits a 90-decibel beeping sound. Once the light has gone, this high pitched sound become the guide for visually impaired players to connect with the ball, helping them identify the direction of the ball and base where they run to. Lightning is one of the last four beep baseball teams in Taiwan. From player to manager, each has his own experience and challenges. Yet, they spare no effort to train and maintain the team, even paying out of their own pockets. Beep baseball is a beam of light, adding value to their life.
Railway marks a place being industrialized, heralding the people’s memory track after track. As time passes and wheels turn, the once-iconic steam trains been retired and replaced by high-speed trains. As the steam disappear, the stories and memories once carried by the steam trains too fade away in our society. Yue-yi Guo, a 83 years old steam train conductor and engineer, dedicates his retirement life to sharing his mastery of train driving and educating new generations. As the only one with the expertise on driving steam trains, Guo refuses to let the memories of the legendary steam trains vaporize by organizing a steam train re-running programme every year to pass on the spirit of the culture and with it, the collective memory of the Taiwanese.
Lanyu is the farthest island from Taiwan island, where the Taiwan government stored their Nuke waste. The indigenous “Tao” on island conserved the beautiful coastal landscape and ocean cultural, passed it by generations throughout thousands years. However, the rapidly developing tourism sector and the arriving of the corporate groups has been changing the livelihood and practice on their heritage and landscape in the recent decades. There are some Taos, already realized the risk of losing their own heritage, and were tackling the difficulties with their own efforts- relearning their culture, their identity and their island.
Taiwan’s music scene consists not just songs in the familiar Mandarin and Taiwanese languages, but Hakka as well. Like other small ethnic tribes in the face of globalisation, Hakka people’s identity and culture can be easily eroded by the mainstream group. To preserve their own culture, they will have to protect their cultural carrier – language. Golden Horse award winner Lin Sheng Xiang has chronicled the Hakka way of life through his music, advocating their rights and interests and awakening the recognition of their identity. What challenges did he encounter in the social movement? Lai Yu Chiao had always felt alienated from the Hakka culture, but because of music, she began to learn and re-immerse herself in the language. Hakka brought a subtle change in her distant relationship with her father, drawing them closer together than ever before Two Hakkas from different generations took root in a pluralistic society through their music, giving voice to their own language and culture.
Alex Liu (Uncle A), a farm owner in Taiwan. He ran his own farm for more than 20 years. He decided to lease out his farm several years ago because of the rapid raise of the real-estate business. Cleaning and driving his wagon all over Taiwan are the only way to kill his timeafter he leased out his farm. Uncle A became a driver suddenly because he wanted to meet more people and show them how Taiwan can be. And He held the Eco Tour for children together with a local insect store by chance. Uncle A shares all his experiences about the nature to the children in the Eco Tour in order to let the children know more about protecting and saving the environment. Uncle A’s wife and his family members showed their respect and support to Uncle A when he transformed from a farm owner to an Eco Tour guide. That’s what Uncle A really wants for his life.
"Without fairy tales, the world would not be real." This is a story about the Taiwanese Don Quixote. "First mile Kid's Smile" is a public art project founded by a group of top Taiwanese art workers. The aim is to bring the top theater from Taipei to children from the entire 368 districts of Taiwan. Admissions of the shows are free of charge. It is a very big project. Giant outdoor stages need to be set up; actors and materials need to be transported from Taipei. To remain art in its pure form, the project accepts no funding from the government or political parties. All money comes from public donations only. The concept and hard works moves private enterprises, celebrities and citizens to donate; actors and production crews volunteer to participate. They all want to be "Tai Quixote" and make contributions to their people and land. This documentary is a record of Taiwan citizens go hand-in-hand to fight for a better world. It is also a fairy tale that comes true.
After the release of the Taiwanese documentary "Beyond Beauty - Taiwan from Above”, Taiwan people paid more attention to local environmental issues. The film not only set a new record for Taiwan's documentary box office, but also awarded with Best Documentary Film at Taiwan’s Golden Horse Awards. Director Chi Po-lin became the first person who documented Taiwan with aerial photography in such a high altitude. Unfortunately, this star of tomorrow died in a helicopter crash two days after he began shooting "Beyond Beauty - Taiwan from Above II”. The whole Taiwan shocked. “The burden of being a ‘hero’ is too heavy and is unreachable for many people. So I hope that everyone will regard him as a very passionate person who strived for his dream. Only then will there be more passionate people who are willing to follow his footsteps and make Taiwan better.” Chi Po-lin’s son said. Chi Po-lin has passed away for more than a year. Has the environment in Taiwan been improved because of his film? Can his passion be passed down?
Sanxia District of New Taipei, an old town steeped in history and culture meets a new town with modern urban planning. Under the influence of an urban-rural gap, its development underlines a lack of social support for the disadvantaged.