Crossing Faiths and Religion
November 13th-15th
In the second dialogue ‘Crossing Faiths and Religions’, FCFF explores the tension between traditions and personal faith through the lens of different religious practices. Dialogue with Beliefs reveals the religious diversity and liberty in Taiwan, and offers a framework for the Western audience to understand other documentaries in the film festival. The other three documentaries of this section explore pioneering female spiritual leaders in different traditions (Christian, Tibetan Buddhist, and Aboriginal Amis Sikasaway) as they live out their faith and reshape their religions.
timerAll films, except The Wheel of Life and Super Citizen Ko (screening for two hours), are available on demand for 24hrs starting from their show times.
11/13 (Fri) 7pm Eastern - 11/14 (Sat) 7pm Eastern
Khan LEE, Ming-Chun HSU. Ying Shun WANG │2018│ 110 min (2 x 55min episodes)│ Mandarin (English subtitles)
Taiwan has the second-highest religious diversity in the world. The belief of God, Buddha, Allah, all sorts of deities and indigenous spirits coexist on this island. This series of films seeks to guide the audience to explore the religions in Taiwan in a rational way, and attempts to have a better understanding of how one’s life is guided by beliefs, and how beliefs in turn respond to one’s mind. (Source: Encore Film Co. Ltd.)
11/13 (Fri) 9pm Eastern - 11/14 (Sat) 9pm Eastern
LIN Li-fang│ 2017│ 70min │ Mandarin, Tibetan (English + Mandarin subtitles)
Tsunma, an honorific term connoting “noble, delicate, and pure”, refers to the Tibetan Buddhist Nuns of the Himalayan Region who have been largely dismissed or forgotten by the traditions they follow and the societies they’ve served. Taiwanese photographer Lin Li-Fang undertook a solo journey up 4,270 meters into the Himalayan Plateau and lived for an entire summer with some of these nuns and recorded life in the unforgiving environment dubbed “The Roof of the World”. There, Li-Fang captured a life devoted to hope and faith and a people possessing a unique kind of tolerance, humility, and perseverance. This is a story of the Nuns of the Himalayas, of seeing one’s life through theirs, that is, a life lived in faith and with the spark of a summer eternal. (Source: Taiwan Film and Audiovisual Institute)
US PREMIERE
11/14 (Sat) 7pm Eastern - 11/15 (Sun) 7pm Eastern
Elvis LU│ 2018│ 77min │ Mandarin (English + Mandarin subtitles)
Despite harsh condemnation and denunciation from society, a heterosexual female pastor founded Taiwan’s first LGBT-affirming church in May 1996. For LGBT Christians, who had been rejected by the Christian community for a long time, they finally have a church that offers them a safe haven. Though the founder has passed away, the church members continue to make their voice heard, confronting the unjust social institutions while struggling with religious conflict at the same time.
Come hell or high water, they strive to make a difference in the lives of others by telling their own life stories, in hope that love will eventually trump hate and solve misunderstanding someday. (Source: Taiwan Docs Catalogue - TaiwanDocs台灣紀錄片資料庫)
US PREMIERE
11/14 (Sat) 9pm Eastern - 11/15 (Sun) 9pm Eastern
YANG Chun-Kai│ 2017│ 71min │ Mandarin, Amis (English + Mandarin subtitles)
The Sikawasay, from the Amis tribe in Hualien, is known as the people who possess spirits. They are fated to maintain traditional rituals in service of the tribe, their lives a process of interacting with the gods. Panay Mulu was raised in the Christian tradition, first joined the Sikasaway as an ethnographer, and then became a Sikasaway herself. She has now been with them for 20 years, recording rituals that may soon disappear and capturing the tribe’s unique way of life. (Source: Creative Century Entertainment Co., Ltd.)
* No English Subtitles.