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Tayal Forest Club film image; two people jumping through river in forest

Tayal Forest Club

男孩奇幻夜

VIFF Short Forum

Two teens lose their way during a hike in the dense and mountainous Atayal homelands, crossing paths with a man who at first appears to be the town drunk.

 

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Media Partner

Community Partner

Director
Cast

Yukan Losing, Buya Watan, Kesi Silan

Credits
Country of Origin

Taiwan

Year

2024

Language

In Atayal and Mandarin with English subtitles

Film Contact
Links
18+
19 min
Cinemas of Asia Drama Indigenous Cinema Shorts Women Directors
Nia Tero Foundation, Upstander Project Production

Credits & Director

Executive Producer

Tracy Rector

Producer

Adam Mazo, Chen Yi Chen, Kavita Pillay, Tracy Rector, Taylor Hensel

Screenwriter

Laha Mebow, Yayut Icyang

Cinematography

Liao Ching-Yao

Editor

Sauli Pillay

Original Music

Jennifer Kreisberg

Art Director

Sheng-Lin Wu

Laha Mebow headshot; Tayal Forest Club director

Laha Mebow 陳潔瑤

As the first Indigenous woman film director from Taiwan, Laha Mebow is best known for feature films focusing on the Tayal community. Her 2022 feature film, Gaga (2022), garnered Laha the coveted best director award at the 2022 Golden Horse Awards, an annual celebration of Chinese language cinema. With it, Laha became the first Taiwanese woman and the first Indigenous director to win the Golden Horse award for best director. Her previous feature, Lokah Laqi! (Hang in There, Kids!) (2016) won five awards at the 2016 Taipei Film Awards, including Best Narrative and the Grand Prize. Lokah Laqi! was Taiwan’s submission to the 2017 Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film.

 

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