TaiwanFest - Cinematic Taiwan presents Identity: Lost and Found
Suana, Vaqacun, Masaw, and Abus—four Indigenous musicians who grew up in the urban city. They have all felt dissonance with their Indigenous ancestry, and now, as adults and artists, they are facing their history and heritage, returning to their tribes to re-find the pieces of their identity.
They met because of music and formed the band Kanatal to explore their Indigenous roots. Kanatal means "island" in the Amis language; it also happens to sound similar to “Canada”. With the wish to communicate with the cultural organizations and Indigenous peoples of North America, the band composed music that integrated both tradition and contemporary sound. Using songs written in their mother tongues as Indigenous of Taiwan, they travelled across the ocean to have in-depth cultural dialogues with various communities of Canada.
Walking through the halls of a former Indian Residential School, learning the ongoing struggle of the local Indigenous for their rights, including art, politics, and the public’s current attention to the government’s past persecution of the Indigenous peoples, the members of Kanatal gained not only knowledge but experienced deep emotions on this musical exchange. On this journey, step by step, they discovered new possibilities to rediscover their own Indigenous identity.
Paiwan director Tjaikung Rusegeseg accompanied the band and filmed the entire process of its formation and memorable tour to Canada in 2022. He recorded the challenges the members encountered, and the cultural impact they felt in the new environment; the starting point to the emotional changes, as well as the inner turmoil and determination to face their cultural roots and self-identity.
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