The film ‘Park’ (Taman Taman) by So Yo-hen (蘇育賢) was screened at the Taiwan International Documentary Festival before being selected for New York's First Look Festival. This selection allows the film to continue sharing the firsthand stories of migrant workers in Taiwan with a broader audience. Notably, this is the second Taiwanese film featured in the festival, following the film Nina Wu, which was showcased in 2020.
Tainan Park, from So’s childhood, has become a place where migrant workers can spend their days joyfully and affordably. The 43-year-old director described the railway station park as a tranquil ecological space that feels distinct from the station. He shared the story behind the film, which features two Indonesian poets who arrange to meet in Tainan Park at night, transforming their observations of Taiwan's Indonesian community into poetry.
Park is part of Su's series that follows Hut and Dorm which all feature willing participants found through the Tainan Park and online. His long-standing curiosity about expatriates vividly brings the collective landscape of migrant workers into focus while questioning his own perspective as a citizen whose "imagination is one-directional."
The First Look Festival, featuring 38 films from 21 countries, including ‘Park,’ runs from March 12-16 at the Museum of the Moving Image.