The Amis Through Their Own Eyes

"Pangcah" is the Amis word for "human being," and also the term by which the Amis refer to themselves.

Generally speaking, most people's impressions of Taiwan's aboriginal peoples may not go beyond harvest festivals, colorful dances and unemployment, and few can name the distinctive characteristics of the different ethnic groups among them. "Reel Amis-Real Pangcah" was a purely Amis film festival, through which the organizers hoped to show audiences a complete picture of the Amis, and to share their people's timeless experience concerning ancestors, ritual, old people and children, men and women, city and tribal village.

The festival indeed had a thoroughly "Amis" flavor." As well as the producers being Amis and the films recording Amis tribal life, even the names of the festival itself and the segments within it, along with the music accompanying the documentaries, were all in the Amis language.

The festival planning team was led by director Mayaw Biho, who also devised the event. He explains that before organizing the festival, he had already screened three of the films in Amis tribal villages in July. His tribespeople had all busily pointed out people they knew in the films, and were also very happy that Amis culture was now "on TV"! Says Mayaw Biho: "The old people in the tribe were even more pleased, because the films were all in our mother tongue, so they could understand them!" He also hoped that the film festival could be the occasion for a big get-together of Amis living in the city.

Rebecca Fan, executive director of the festival organizing committee, says the whole event was designed and executed according to Amis ways of thinking. For instance, on 19 November the organizing committee and the Amis Student Association sent loudspeakers van through Amis neighborhoods such as the Haishan Coal Mine area of Jiufang, the Tingpu area of Tucheng and Hsichou village in Hsintien to publicize the event in the Amis language, in the interactive style typical of Amis urban communities.

The main feature of the festival's opening night on 24 November-a concert entitled "Pangcah Sing-a Concert of Original Amis Music"-was a performance of songs and themes which appear in the films, including old Amis tunes, work songs and modern music written by Amis. The audience were also taught how to sing a song which is an obligatory part of any Amis get-together, and is jestingly called the "Amis national anthem." The event was intended to let people enter the world of Amis music before watching the films.

During the actual screenings on 25 and 26 November, to accompany each segment the organizers arranged for academics in the fields of documentary film making and the humanities, people who appeared in the films, and the films' directors, to conduct dialogues and seminars with the audiences. The conversations between different ethnic groups such as Amis, Bunun, Atayal, Minnan and Hakka revealed that even among the Amis, different groups have different traditional rituals, and that a single ethnic group in fact has many different faces. Heated discussion centered on the topic of rebuilding Amis cultural self-confidence, as a means to overcoming the difficult situation of aboriginal people today. Film director Tsai Yi-chang encouraged more Amis to make documentary films. He said that because Amis culture was always transmitted orally, there is no written record of traditional culture. Thus every time he goes to a tribal village to film, it is a race against time. He is very fearful of failing to record tribal elders before they die, thereby losing a precious part of the tribal cultural heritage.

The 14 films in the festival included the earliest known documentary on the Amis, filmed 50 years ago, and films recording the Amis' urban life today. Through the documentaries, audiences could gain an understanding of the real situation of the Amis today, and look behind such issues as alcohol, unemployment and illegal buildings to understand their deeper meaning and the difficulties they reflect. Dear Rice Wine, You are Defeated explores the demands of young people in tribal villages for reform of traditional rituals in the face of changing times, while Looking for Salt explores the conflicts encountered by aboriginal students in their search for tradition and in their everyday lives. In As Life, As Pangcah we see an old man who insists on sticking to the traditional way of life. Children in Heaven and New Paradise, on the other hand, record how Amis living in the crowded city seek ways to get close to nature, and Pangcah Moms: Female Construction Workers shows Amis women whose children live with them on the building sites where they work. These films had a strong impact on Amis and non-Amis audience members alike. Several of the films, including Dear Rice Wine, You are Defeated have previously won awards, affirming their artistic achievement on a professional level.

For the artistic design of the festival, by special invitation Amis sculptor Gi Lahaz created the installation work Transcendence, to symbolize the event's aim of overcoming barriers and bringing together Taiwan's various ethnic groups such as Han Chinese, Bunun and Atayal to clearly understand the Amis. Of course, says Mayaw Biho, what is most important is that they hope to raise enough money to go and screen the films in Amis villages in Hualien and Taitung Counties, in order to increase mutual understanding. "After all," he says, "documentaries made by Amis are mainly meant to be watched by Amis!"

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To let audiences experience the powerful Amis musical culture before watching the films, the festival opened with a concert of original Amis music, including old melodies, work songs and modern songs.