In the Realm of the Indigenous:Local, National and Global Articulations in Fishing Luck

Marking a notable achievement in Taiwanese cinema；Fishing Luck(Deng dai fei yu)；the first feature narrative film set on Taiwan’s Orchid Island；home to the Tao People；premiered in 2005 at the 12th Women Make Waves film festival in Taipei. It was also the first feature film directed by award-winning Taiwanese woman director；Tseng Wen-Chen. While contributing to the slowly growing canon of Taiwanese cinema；an industry historically dwarfed by the Hollywood machine；this essay examines how the film perpetuates notions of primitivism in cinema in its effort to build bridges of communication between Taiwan’s non-Indiigines and Indigines. What is needed instead is a sincere commitment to supporting the expression of amultiplicity of evolving voices and experiences；which must include Taiwan’s indigenous peoples. This essay calls for a sustainable training and funding infrastructure to nurture Indigenous talent in Taiwan’s film industry,however vulnerable the industry may be.