- Name: 胡台麗
- Born: March 11, 1950
- Birthplace: Taipei
- Did You Know That …?
- Hu recalled that senior photographer-documentary maker Chang Chao-tang (張照堂) offered a helping hand after watching her first film. She took up that offer and Hu's second documentary "Songs of Pastaay (矮人祭之歌)" was therefore filmed by Chang.
Undeterred by numerous technical difficulties while filming her first documentary "The Return of Gods and Ancestors: Paiwan Five Year Ceremony (神祖之靈歸來)," Hu Tai-li fought on and completed the nation's first ethnographic film in 1984 with a hand-cranked Bell & Howell 16mm camera, which previously belonged to American soldiers who fought in the Vietnam War. Made in spite of considerable odds, the film enraptured both domestic and international audiences.
From capturing the magnificent traditional ceremonies of the indigenous Paiwan tribe to painting a portrait of a Hualien village composed of military veterans whose wives are from different ethnic communities, the Taipei-born anthropologist tackles thorny identity issues while also drawing attention to lesser-discussed chapters of indigenous histories and tribal cultures in a respectful and sensitive manner.
Born in Taiwan to Han Chinese parents who fled to Taiwan in 1949, Hu pursued a doctoral degree in anthropology at The City University of New York after graduating from the History Department of the National Taiwan University in 1972. During her time in New York, she was drawn to ethnographic films, never missed any film-related programs, and even signed up for sound-recording courses.
Upon returning to Taiwan, the awarding-winning writer embarked on a journey in documenting cultures through lenses as she believes words sometimes fail to precisely capture the essence of rituals or languages in any given culture. Sounds and images are therefore crucial parts of anthropology research for her.
Her film "Songs of Pastaay," released in 1988, is centered around a significant, eponymous ritual of the Saisiyat people (賽夏族) and discusses the tribe's complicated feelings toward indigenous tourism and their dilemma at being caught between preserving tradition while embracing modernization.
The documentarian delved further into the topic of how indigenous peoples' opinions are not properly sought during the planning of tourism development on their ancestral lands through her 1993 work "Voices of Orchid Island (蘭嶼觀點)."
The film explores how indigenous tourism, scientific advancements, and radioactive waste stored on Orchid Island have impacted the home of the Tao people, who are also known as the Yami. The 73-minute production won Hu the best documentary title at the nation's prestigious Golden Horse Awards in 1993.
In 2004, Hu released "Stone Dream (石頭夢)," a sincere attempt to delineate the collective contour of military veterans in Hualian whose wives are from different ethnic and mostly indigenous communities. The idea Hu seeks to convey through the 79-minute documentary is that ethnic issues should be analyzed under a wider timeframe, which would help viewers understand how the shared frustration of the featured military veterans stems from issues that each generation of every ethnic community in Taiwan will eventually encounter.
Another Paiwan-themed documentary, "Sounds of Love and Sorrow (愛戀排灣笛)," was released in 2000. The film sheds light on the indigenous group's emotions and sorrows through interviewing four Paiwan musicians who have an inextricable relationship with traditional flutes.
Together with the recollections of tribal elders and the indigenous group’s folklores, Hu used the eerie melodies of their traditional flutes and double-barreled nose-flutes that imitate the unique sounds of the revered hundred-step pacer to present a full portrait of Paiwan life.
Hu’s 2012 work "Returning Souls (讓靈魂回家)" follows a group of Amis who seek to reconstruct an ancestral house. Interweaving reality and legends from the matrilineal Amis tribe, "Returning Souls" draws an intricate picture of the efforts undertaken by the indigenous community to restore their culture, and how that movement is further complicated by national land policies and local politics.
While making documentaries or taking members of indigenous troupes to conduct field research might not seem like a proper occupation to some, Hu has her own definition when it comes to career. She said she likes to do what feels important or touching to her.
"Doing what you love is the key to having a life-long career. The cultures observed in these field investigations echo my own needs for self-discovery. I want to do whatever stokes my inner fire," the seventy-year-old stated.