Mark Wilkie was initially drawn to the rice terraces in Taiwan because of their unique and diverse ecosystems and abundance of farmland birds — but the Yunlin County-based educator and natural history documentarian soon realized there was a human story to tell.
Partnering with Taiwanese media veteran Allen Fong (馮振隆), who had wanted to make a film on the last terrace farmers at Gongliao (貢寮), the two produced Terraced Fields: Gongliao (戀戀水梯田) for the National Geographic Channel — which won a Gold Remi for best short documentary (under 60 minutes) at WorldFest Houston on Wednesday.
Now in its 49th year, WorldFest bills itself as the “oldest independent film festival in the world.” This year’s screenings were held from April 8 to Sunday.
Photo courtesy of Mark Wilkie
The festival’s Remi Awards, named after early US artist Frederick Remington, are handed to about 10 percent of the more than 4,500 entries, according to the festival winner’s list.
In addition to the major Grand Remi awards, it also provides Platinum, Gold, Silver and Bronze Remis to films in hundreds of subcategories.
Wilkie says the film took two years to make as they wanted to capture a life as a terrace farmer over the entire 24 jieqi (節氣, or solar terms) that plays a significant role in traditional agriculture production.
The rice terraces have been continuously farmed for the past 200 years, but the farmers who have tended them are dying out as young people in the community leave to work in the cities.
Most of the farmers Wilkie encountered were in their 70s and 80s; the youngest was 53 when filming began. A few months into the shoot, one of the farmers died and his son took over.
“From the point of view of the film, that is pretty strong,” Wilkie said. “It shows you how the farmers themselves are almost an endangered species.”
Wilkie, who lives right next to rice fields in Douliou (斗六), adds that he noticed immediately that the techniques of terrace farming are completely different from modern ones. These traditional methods leave little impact on the environment, thus the incredible biodiversity in the fields.
“Culture itself is a priceless treasure. The knowledge invested in these few remaining farmers — it’s the total of generations upon generations of formers — and when they go, it is lost forever,” he said.
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