The Ministry of National Defense (MND) has agreed to help an award-wining Taiwanese director by allowing several Aboriginal servicemen to take time away from their military duties to work as actors in his new film, a lawmaker said on Tuesday.
Wei Te-sheng (魏德聖), director of Taiwan’s biggest-grossing locally produced film, Cape No. 7, needs several Aborigines to be key actors or extras on his next project titled Seediq Bale, which is an epic account of an uprising by indigenous Sediq tribesmen against Japanese colonialists during Japan’s occupation of Taiwan from 1895 to 1945.
“The film will require a lot of Aboriginal extras, not to mention about 20 or 30 Aborigines who will actually play more than a cameo part in the film,” said Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Justin Chou (周守訓).
However, the people who meet the roles’ requirements are almost all doing their military service, so the casting of the film is “not running smoothly,” Chou said.
Chou asked the defense ministry to support the casting of the film, and has received a promise from Minister of National Defense Chen Chao-min (陳肇敏) that the servicemen can take time off.
Wei said Seediq Bale will cost more than US$10 million to produce, with release projected for in the middle of next year.
The uprising of the Sediq tribesmen, called the Wushe Incident, took place in 1930 when Japanese soldiers massacred members of the Sediq tribe.
Considered the most famous and most violent of all the anti-Japanese uprisings in Taiwan, the incident occurred in the Aboriginal region of Wushe in present-day Nantou County.
After a Japanese police officer insulted a tribesman, hundreds of Sediq tribesmen, under the leadership of tribal chief Mona Rudao, massacred Japanese residents in the area. During the violence, Japanese residents were killed.
The Japanese colonial government then sent in troops and during the military crackdown, most of the tribal insurgents were either killed or committed suicide, along with their family members or fellow tribesmen. Several hundred tribesmen were killed.
The Sediq are Aboriginal tribe living primarily in Nantou County and Hualien County. They were officially recognized as Taiwan’s 14th indigenous group in April last year.
GENSLER SURVEY: ‘Economic infrastructure is not enough. A city needs to inspire pride, offer moments of joy and foster a sense of belonging,’ the company said Taipei was named the city with the “highest staying power” in the world by US-based design and architecture firm Gensler. The Taiwanese capital earned the top spot among 65 cities across six continents with 64 percent of Taipei respondents in a survey of 33,000 people saying they wanted to stay in the city. Rounding out the top five were Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City (61 percent), Singapore (59 percent), Sydney (58 percent) and Berlin (51 percent). Sixth to 10th place went to Monterrey, Mexico; Munich, Germany; Sao Paulo, Brazil; Vancouver; and Seoul. Cities in the US were ranked separately, with Minneapolis first at
The Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association has cautioned Japanese travelers to be vigilant against pickpockets at several popular tourist spots in Taiwan, including Taipei’s night markets, the Yongkang Street area, Zhongshan MRT Station, and Jiufen (九份) in New Taipei City. The advisory, titled “Recent Development of Concerns,” was posted on the association’s Web site under its safety and emergency report section. It urges travelers to keep backpacks fully zipped and carried in front, with valuables placed at the bottom of the bag. Visitors are advised to be especially mindful of their belongings when taking photos or speaking on the phone, avoid storing wallets and
Scoot announced yesterday that starting in October, it would increase flights between Taipei and Japan’s Narita airport and Hokkaido, and between Singapore and Taipei. The low-cost airline, a subsidiary of Singapore Airlines, also said it would launch flights to Chiang Rai in Thailand, Okinawa and Tokyo’s Haneda airport between December and March next year. Flights between Singapore and Chiang Rai would begin on Jan. 1, with five flights per week operated by an Embraer E190-E2 aircraft, Scoot said. Flights between Singapore and Okinawa would begin on Dec. 15, with three flights per week operated by Airbus A320 aircraft, the airline said. Services between Singapore
ENDORSING TAIWAN: Honduran presidential candidate Nasry Afura said that Honduras was ‘100 times better off’ when it was allied with Taipei The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday said it would explore the possibility of restoring diplomatic relations with Honduras based on the principle of maintaining national interests and dignity. The ministry made the remarks in response to reporters’ questions regarding an article titled: “Will Taiwan Regain a Diplomatic Ally?” published in The Diplomat on Saturday. The article said Honduras’ presidential election in November could offer Taiwan the chance to regain an ally, as multiple candidates have promoted re-establishing diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Honduras severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan in March 2023 in favor of Beijing, but since switching its diplomatic recognition,
RSS