World No. 1 golfer Yani Tseng (曾雅妮) and President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) on Wednesday graced the premiere of a documentary about a group of elderly cheerleaders.
The screening of the movie, Young at Heart (青春啦啦隊), was hosted by the United Way of Taiwan, a charity that raises money for donation to other community organizations and programs.
“I was very interested in seeing the movie even before they invited me,” said Tseng, who has just returned from the US to celebrate Mother’s Day with her family.
“Taking care of seniors is taking care of oneself because old age is a stage everyone goes through,” Ma said.
Directed by Yang Li-chou (楊力州), the film records the journey of a group of seniors as they prepare for a big performance at the 2009 World Games in Kaohsiung. The cheerleaders in the movie wore heavy makeup and donned uniforms with muscle patterns for their performance. Still young at heart, the average age of the performers is 70.
About 50 of them, who hail from Greater Kaohsiung, traveled to Taipei for the movie premiere, cheering and giving the president high-fives when he arrived.
The director said he made the film to show the vitality and passion of older people.
He said he was inspired to make it knowing that everyone will age one day.
“The elderly people of today give us a glimpse into our own future,” Yang said. “We can learn about our future by learning from our seniors.”
Young at Heart opens in local cinemas today.
RSS