papingerenger

23-year-old young artist aims to build a settlement in Central Taipei, offering the artists a place to work with total freedom. As a result, he sets up a tent on the Huashan Grassland and carries out an experimental project called the “120 Grassroots Self-Autonomous Zone.” As the settlement gets bigger and bigger, the Utopia gradually takes shape. Nonetheless, when the shocking murder and dismemberment of a woman happens on the Grassland, the authorities demolish the settlement and these young artists are chased out of the Grassland by the public opinion. Having experienced the rise and the fall of the 120 Grassroots Self-Autonomous Zone, where would this group of young people go as they are forced into exile?

Joy, a fishing village girl who dreams of becoming a captain, and her friends Smelly and Beans always fantasize about the vast sea beyond the breakwaters. They secretly plan to build a small boat together during winter vacation, aiming for an adventurous voyage before Smelly leaves the village.

Between Mount Kavulungan and the Gaoping River, history streams across the wilderness, coalescing the values and identities of different peoples. So begins the Pakedavai family ritual. As an 11th-generation descendant of the Pakedavai ruler family, Dabiliyan Alifu grew up in a family slate house in the Sandimen tribe. For him, the family is a constant source of education about how to live with the forest and what kind of person to become. Of Pakedavai’s 12th generation, Kang Yuan-Jin grew up in a traditional Chinese community with a Paiwan grandmother and a Chinese grandfather. Only in adulthood did he start to explore the meanings of family and personal identity.