Finding Sayun

Finding Sayun

2011 · 95 min · ★ 5.0 · Documentary, Drama

For her debut feature Finding Sayun (不一樣的月光), Atayal director Chen Chieh-yao (陳潔瑤) returns to her home village to unearth the legend of Sayun (sometimes spelled Sayion), an Atayal girl who fell to her death in a turbulent stream while carrying a Japanese teacher’s belongings at the end of World War II. The movie begins when the tale of Sayun draws a television crew to the Atayal hamlet of Tyohemg (金岳) in Nanao Township (南澳), Yilan County. Yukan (Tsao Shih-hui, 曹世輝), a high-school boy and a young hunter, does not understand the crew members’ interest in the story. But his grandfather’s (Chang Chin-chen, 張金振) memories of Sayun, whom he went to school with, revives his interest in the old tribal village, which the villagers had been forced to desert 50 years prior.

Directed by Laha Mebow

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Finding Sayun

GAGA

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GAGA

The tribal village gets misty in September, letting out an atmosphere as intriguing as Hayung's family in this autumn-winter season. After Hayung's homeland was occupied, one 80-year-old man devoted his whole life to worshipping GAGA. The traditions were forgotten by his descendants after his passing... The Hayung's family represented indigenous families in Taiwan. Each tribe represents a withering big family. The eldest son Pasang joins in the election campaign, neglecting the opposition from his family. The second son, who is a farmer, is thus affected. After the election campaign, the entire family is on the verge of falling apart, and the village witnesses the snow for the first time in a very long time... With snow melting, new lives emerge. The broken family has started mending and repairing...

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Andante

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A Tayal

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He has to leave the tribe for entering the next grade. This is a must challenge for the kids at the tribe. For YUKAN, besides this challenge. He still has to leave from his favorite mountain life. YUKAN’s ambition is to be a hunter from his childhood. Can he achieve his dream? The old spirits inside his heart will be obliterated gradually in the city life?

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Bullied at school and weighed down at home by his dad's drinking, Yukan is eager to escape it all. When his best friend, Watan, invites him on a hike, a physically and emotionally bruised Yukan grabs his machete and the two boys head into the woods.

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After being abandoned for nearly seven decades, the old tribal village is difficult to reach with almost no roads leading to it. The only guide on our journey in search of our roots is Wilang, who drags his octogenarian body up the mountain. As we follow Wilang’s footsteps, we travel a tunnel back in time...

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