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  • Japan Premiere

Competition|Special Programs < Taiwan: Movies on the Move 2022 >

Days Before the Millennium

徘徊年代

Director: CHANG Teng-yuan (張騰元)

2021|Taiwan|148min|Language: Taiwanese, Vietnamese, Chinese|Subtitles: English, Japanese

Date Time Venue
3/13 Sun 13:40 *Sold Out Cine Libre Umeda 4
3/16 Wed 17:10 ABC Hall
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Starring
Annie NGUYEN (阮安妮)
Steven CHIANG Chang-Hui (江常輝)
NGUYEN Thu Hang (阮秋姮)
CHEN Shu-Fang (陳淑芳)
Synopsis

Van Tue (Annie NGUYEN) was one of many Southeast Asian girls married off to a Taiwanese man in the 1990s but instead of city life and modernity, she lives in the countryside with her construction worker husband (Steven CHIANG Chang-hui) and mother-in-law (CHEN Shu-fang). With each holding a different view of “home”, clashes ensue forcing Van Tue to flee as she awaits the arrival of the new millennium… Flash-forward some time and Taiwan has entered the modern era. A mysterious Vietnamese woman (NGUYEN Thu Hang) working as a private detective explores Van Tue’s experiences and she keeps encountering people and things that seem to have appeared in the past…

In a story cleaved into two parts, the film works up an epic atmosphere thanks to many historical incidents such as natural disasters and politics, all while keeping in focus the survival of immigrant women and their experiences of changing values, social stratum, history, globalization, and self-identity.

[Jason MAHER]

Director's Message
There is often an invisible line between outsider ethnic groups and locals, sometimes even a relationship of binary opposition. But in my eyes, the two are one. Through Taiwan’s changing eras and environment over the past 30 years, new immigrants have been shouldering hardships and struggling to break free alongside this foreign land. This place has changed their lives; they have also changed our composition. I once asked myself why I am focused on new immigrants. One day, I realized: Their marginalization and vulnerability; their efforts to break through limitations and seek self-identity… all of this is just like the fate of the island of Taiwan. Their story is about “our” story. Through the lens, I wanted to survey the complex state of an immigrant society, and to turn this film into an allegory that conveys even more universal care for humanity and reflection.

Director: CHANG Teng-yuan (張騰元)