In this film, I took a trip bridging three places around close time which arose the attempt of an essential inquiry: the relationship between human and natural world. Across three different places
I tried to create conversations and I also found some similarity behind those
rituals/folklores.
First, I use an oral storytelling method which most of us are familiar and was also the way
stories/legends passed on before written history. In the 400-year-old ritual contains the
elements I am exploring and it’s still practiced now, in the mountains. When attending the
ritual, I found that I can’t relate this story without its surroundings.
Second, I went back to Eastern Asia’s political protest, except for losing freedom, the great
anxiety of Hong Kong people and their searching of sense of identity are asking the same
question, again and again. Without those collective histories, rituals and common values,
there is no such bound. And what behind these and created what so called “root” are what
I’m exploring.
I grow up in Taipei City and I feel deeply the disconnect between modern human and
nature. In my memories, I was told many folklores, characters and songs when I was little.
But it’s since I am old enough and went into the nature, I started to feel I understand
those stories and superstitions by heart, and feel connected with them.
When human was generally depending on nature, the sense of identity was based on
common language (including non-verbal languages) and gods, which are the roots of our
culture.
In the third part I interviewed a Swedish friend, who grew in the farm, on how he’s
affected by/ believe in folklore/ superstitions. He’s very interested in Swedish mythology
and folklores. In the forest our sensory organs work differently and it’s the mutual
affection of the nature and our imagination that created our own culture. I tried to related
some characters in folklore with scenery I found myself or from the archive images. And in
the ending I asked him to sing an old Norse folksong at the city, also where the song were
born.