Taipei, Sept. 28 (CNA) A biennial ethnographic film festival will feature indigenous cultures and diversity from all over the world with 42 films to be screened from Sept. 28-Oct. 2 in Taipei, festival organizers said Friday.
With the theme of "indigenous voices," the festival will present films from different cultures, ethnicities and identities from all over the world to highlight the importance of diversity and differences, said Lin Wen-ling, festival director of the 2007 Taiwan International Ethnographic Film Festival (TIEFF).
Indigenous directors Victor Masayesva, a North American Hopi tribe member, and Mayaw Biho, from Taiwan's Pangcah tribe, will be featured in a "Director in Focus" program with their opening films "Water Land Life -- Hopi Run to Mexico" and "Children in Heaven."
"Dead Birds, " a classic directed by American director Robert Gardner in 1964, and a 19-minute documentary film "Pas-taai - The Saisiyat Ceremony in 1936, " which was shot by Japanese Professor Nobuto Miyamoto in Taiwan during Japanese occupation, will be featured in the "Retrospective" program, Lin said.
Filmgoers will be able to appreciate stories from different places as well, Lin said, such as "Chichester's Choice." In this film, Brazilian-born Canadian director Simonee Chichester embarked upon a journey of identity in Brazil to look for her father.
TIEFF is the first biennial film festival in Asia that promotes outstanding documentary films made about cultures and ethnography. It is organized by the Taiwan Association of Visual Ethnography, a non-profit organization that introduces ethnography to the public.