CBrown, Laha Mebow Interview.pdf (209.58 kB)
‘By introducing my culture to someone else, I learnt to understand it again somehow’: an interview with filmmaker Laha Mebow
As the first indigenous woman to achieve prominence as a filmmaker in Taiwan, Laha Mebow occupies an important place in the island’s film culture. Her first feature, 'Finding Sayun' (2011), depicts a village community from Mebow’s own tribe, the Atayal, offering a contemporary response to the 1943 Japanese propaganda movie 'Sayon's Bell'. Her second feature, 'Lokah Laqi' (2016), explores the troubled backgrounds of a group of kids growing up in a tribal village, and earned Mebow widespread recognition and awards. Her most recent film, 'Ça fait si longtemps' (2017), is a documentary shot in New Caledonia, tracking the collaboration of Taiwanese musicians Suming Rupi and Baobu Badulu with local practitioners, and reflecting on Mebow’s personal connection to the Kanak people. Topics discussed by Mebow in this interview include the dynamics of working within indigenous communities as a semi-outsider, the methods she has developed for training and directing non-professional actors, questions of subjectivity in documentary, and her interest in exploring the connections between Austronesian peoples in Taiwan, New Caledonia, and New Zealand / Aotearoa.
History
Publication status
- Published
File Version
- Accepted version
Journal
East Asian Journal of Popular CultureISSN
2051-7084Publisher
IntellectExternal DOI
Issue
2Volume
6Page range
293-303Department affiliated with
- Media and Film Publications
Full text available
- Yes
Peer reviewed?
- Yes
Legacy Posted Date
2020-08-17First Open Access (FOA) Date
2021-08-02First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date
2020-08-17Usage metrics
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