(Director Wei Te-sheng)
On November 10th at 12pm, the Press Division of TECO-NY hosted a press conference to welcome the director Mr. Wei Te-sheng whose film “Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale” is chosen to be the opening film for “In Focus: Fortissimo Films” at MOMA in New York.
Organized by Jytte Jensen, Curator, Department of Film, The Museum of Modern Art, “Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale” is screening as part of a film series titled “In Focus: Fortissimo Films” which will run at MoMA from November 10-21, and will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the founding of the international film, television and home entertainment sales organization, Fortissimo.
Director Wei Te-sheng
“Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale”, a new historical epic from Taiwan, is a recent box office smash hit in Taiwan and was also a popular film during Venice International Film Festival this year. Wei Te-sheng’s previous film, Cape No. 7, became Taiwan’s highest-grossing film ever, thus allowing him to realize this ambitious passion project, which has been in the planning stages for a decade. With a budget of US$25 million, Seediq Bale is the most expensive Taiwanese film ever made and took over two years to complete. In Taiwan, the film was released in two installments which total 4.5 hours. Despite the length, the film has become a box-office sensation and has inspired a great deal of interest in the history and culture of indigenous Taiwanese peoples. The film will be officially distributed in the United States by WellGo USA Entertainment in February, 2012.
(Ambassdor Andrew Kao, Director Wei Te-sheng, and Michael J. Werner- Chairman of Fortissimo Films
Seediq Bale tells the story of the little-known Wushe Incident of 1930, during which the indigenous Seediq people, under the leadership of Mouna Rudo, staged a valiant rebellion against the Japanese colonial population. The term Seediq Bale is used to describe men who have undergone a right of passage to become a fully adult member of the tribe. Despite their obvious disadvantage, the Seediq Bale launched a heroic uprising against the oppressive colonizing forces to stand for their ancestral land, their beliefs, myths and principles, and their right to practice their cultural traditions. The film explores universal themes of identity, human dignity, and self actualization through this historical event.
For the film, please visit: www.seediqbalethemovie.com and for more information about “In Focus: Fortissimo Films” at MOMA, please visit: http://www.moma.org/visit/calendar/films/1219. To know more about the quilt portrait artist Danny Liu’s info, please visit: http://www.quiltportrait.com/
(Amazing quilt portrait by Taiwan artist Danny Liu of young Mouna Rudo. Director Wei Te-sheng with Patrick Huang from Taiwan Studies Inc.)
Michael J. Werner- Chairman of Fortissimo Films
( Ambassador Andrew Kao, Director Wei Te-sheng, and TECO Press Division Director Brian Su)
(Director Wei Te-sheng with Minister of OCAC Dr. Wu Ying-yih)
(Director Wei Te-sheng with Passport to Taiwan Festival Executive Director Borcheng Hsu)
Director Wei Te-sheng signed the quilt portrait of Mouna Rudo)
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