This week we will be looking into the life of Indigenous Atayal filmmaker Laha Mebow. Laha was in the news this week after she won the award for Best Director at last Saturday’s Golden Horse Awards. The awards show is one of the most important in Chinese-language cinema.
Laha Mebow was born in Yilan County’s Nan’ao Township. Her father was a policeman and her mother was a teacher. When she was young, she moved to Taichung, where she would grow up. Afterwards, she only occasionally returned to her parents’ community. Laha went to Shih Hsin University in Taipei to study film. After graduating she worked with prominent filmmakers like Chang Tso Chi (張作驥) and Tsai Ming-Liang (蔡明亮).
Like many Indigenous youth who grow up in Taiwan’s urban areas, Laha says she didn’t have any Indigenous friends until later on in her life. At age 30 she joined Taiwan’s Indigenous Television service, meeting other Indigenous youths from different peoples. This inspired her to reconnect with her roots and also tell her community’s story using film.
Laha released her first feature-length film in 2010. In 2016 she received acclaim for her film “Hang in There, Kids!”, which won prizes at the Taipei Film Festival. But her recently released film “Gaga” about an Indigenous youth returning from abroad and the changes that occur in her family has attracted even more attention, including a prize at Taiwan’s most prestigious film awards show.
Laha says Atayal women learn to weave when they reach adulthood. She says although she cannot pass-on her people’s traditions through weaving, she can do so through the medium of film.