A Taiwanese documentary film commissioned by the Forestry Agency’s Chiayi County branch on the Taiwanese South China Sea river crab recently took the gold Remi Award at the WorldFest-Houston International Film and Video Festival.
Directed by Chien Yu-chun (簡毓群), The Story of Nanhai Potomon (台灣南海溪蟹的故事) examines the habitat and life cycle of the species to highlight how human activity affects the crab and its ecology. It competed in the Green/Ecology/Conservation subcategory.
The large freshwater crab, known to scientists as Nanhaipotamon formosanum, is mainly found south of Changhua County and near Tainan.
Photo courtesy of the Chiayi Forest District Office
Human activity — including cement applied to rural waterways, industrial water pollution and pesticide use — is driving significant habitat loss that is shrinking crab populations, according to the documentary.
The crab was discovered by the Forestry Agency’s Chiayi branch when in 2008 it commissioned Chuang Meng-hsien (莊孟憲), an instructor at Aletheia University’s department of ecology and tourism management, to investigate local animal life before it established a natural education park in Fanlu Township (觸口).
Since its discovery, the crab has been designated a protected species and the population in the park is thriving, the agency said.
Meanwhile, Taiwanese director Chen Hung-i (陳宏一) won the Grand Remi Award for best feature film with Design 7 Love (相愛的七種設計), an urban romance.
Design 7 Love, with a cast from Taiwan and China, is about the love-and-hate relationships among seven people who work in a design company in Taipei.
The film was nominated in two categories — Best New Performer and Best Visual Effects — at Taiwan’s Golden Horse Awards last year.
The WorldFest-Houston event honors independent films and filmmakers, is one of the three original international film festivals in North America, alongside San Francisco and New York.
WorldFest-Houston awards the Grand Remi Statuette and platinum, gold, silver and bronze awards. They are inspired by artist Frederic Remington, it has said.
WorldFest-Houston received about 4,500 entries this year; 51 feature films were screened at the festival, which ran from April 10 to April 19.
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