SPI
- TAIWAN / 2025 / Tayal, Mandarin / Color / DCP / 98 min
Director, Photography, Producer: Sayun Simung
Photography: Cheng Chih-Jen
Editing: Lin I-Chu
Music: Hsuan-Hung Chou
Sound Editing: Eddie Huang (Nien-Yung)
Producer: Hui-Chen Huang
Production Company: SQ Film Studio
Source: Sayun Simung
The director, born in a village of Taiwan’s indigenous Tayal people, explores her roots as an indigenous filmmaker while reflecting on her family. From speaking the unfamiliar Tayal language with great care as if conversing with her late grandfather in her dreams, to chatting with her grandma and the rest of the family in the hearth room, to the turmoil caused by the pregnancy and marriage of her sixteen year-old cousin—everything the director records is linked with her mourning for her grandfather and her feelings for the tribe. The deepening understanding of the community’s history is at the same time the future of the culture, passed down as it is through the deep emotional bonds between the elder and younger generations. (NRT)
[Director’s Statement] I spent ten years making this documentary—a personal and difficult journey. Filming my own family while exploring Gaga, the traditional Tayal value system, challenged me deeply. My grandfather passed before I could truly learn from him, so I turned to my family and elders to understand what had been left unsaid.
Invisible yet powerful, Gaga continues to shape our lives. I often doubted whether I could finish this film, but over time, I grew with it. This is more than a film—it’s my way of reconnecting with Tayal identity and honoring what’s been forgotten.
Now that the film is completed, I’m grateful I stayed the course. It has become a space where my family speaks and where our story finally meets the world.
Sayun SimungFilmmaker from the Tayal Sqoyaw community in Taiwan. She began her career as a reporter at Taiwan Indigenous Television, then transitioned to working as a documentary production coordinator in the International Department at Public Television Service Taiwan. In 2011, Sayun returned to her homeland to focus on telling stories rooted in her community. Her commitment to Indigenous storytelling led her to establish Taiwan’s first Indigenous Film Academy in August 2022, with the aim of nurturing a new generation of filmmakers and strengthen cultural narratives through film. Her previous films include Millets Back Home (2013, YIDFF 2015).