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Director to shoot man's search for his American dad

Taiwanese director Sung Ming-chieh, right, and the grown James Morgan Steward, also known as Jimmy, pose for photographs in Washington on Tuesday. PHOTO: CNA

Taiwanese director Sung Ming-chieh's (宋明杰) latest project will trace a Taiwanese-American man’s movements as he looks for his father in the US, Sung said from Washington on Tuesday.

Sung said his documentary film crew would spend two weeks in the US shooting footage of the man’s search, which will take him to various schools and black communities as he tries to locate his African-American father.

The 33-year-old Jimmy Liao Chih-lung (廖枝龍), who works as a DJ in Taiwan and has performed several times on TV drag shows, said that his parents met in Taiwan in 1974 when his father was serving in the US Air Force during the Vietnam War.

Liao said his Taiwanese mother lost contact with his father, known by his middle name Morgan and the surname Steward or Stewart, when he left Taiwan one month before he was born in 1975.

Liao also carries the English name James Morgan Steward and is known as Jimmy. He said he is not sure whether his father’s last name is Stewart or Steward.

Young Jimmy Liao Chih-lung, left, and his mother are shown in this undated photograph. Jimmy's mother lost contact with his American father, who was serving in Taiwan during the Vietnam War, before Jimmy was born. PHOTO: CNA

Sung said he hoped that Liao and the film crew could get help from people who might have some clues as to the former airman’s whereabouts.

Liao said his father is probably in his 60s and that he only wants to know whether he is in good health. Liao said he has no wish to disturb his father’s life.

The documentary is a sequel to an earlier film produced in 2004 titled Hey Jimmy, which featured Liao’s setbacks and frustrations living in Taiwan as a person of mixed race without a father. The film became popular and was screened at several local and international film festivals, Sung said.

Sung said that in the sequel he wants to further discuss the race issue in Taiwan, as well as family values.

The documentary is partly funded by the Government Information Office.
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