Director
Directed by 溫知儀
The documentary seeks to use film as a medium to preserve and share the lives and legacies of prominent Chinese-language writers. Guided by each director’s unique cinematic language, these films transform literary masters into cinematic texts—introducing their voices to new generations of readers. The project goes beyond archival preservation. It aims to reveal how these authors and their works continue to move and inspire, carrying powerful resonance through the shifting tides of history—ultimately becoming a literary and cultural heritage for future generations.
"Through synchronicity, the subjective and objective worlds intertwine, allowing the psyche and the material to resonate." When we imagine the contours of things, the camera begins to speak. It casts light and sound, strikes chords of language, and imprints memory upon the screen. Five films. Five creators. Five echoes of synchronicity from the depths of their souls. Let us rise from the seats of spectatorship and, with the heart of art as our vessel, journey toward the distant shore—where beauty and the numinous await.
Why do we write? When words erupt from the mind and pour into the heart, images and monologues take the place of daily tedium—of the mundane, the irritating, the unbearable. For some writers, however, writing is more than expression; it is salvation. It is an unshakable calling. In this themed selection on literature, Giloo presents documentaries that delve into the lives and inner worlds of writers—poets, novelists, critics—who wield pens (or typewriters) like swords, fearlessly confronting the truths of the world. The passage of time leaves behind not just pages, but marks of introspection—quiet yet undeniable badges of their creative journey.
Margaret Atwood carried The Handmaid’s Tale from Canada to the world. Yu Xiuhua, a woman with cerebral palsy from rural Hubei, moved the Chinese-speaking world with a single poem. In the 1930s, Ong Naô journeyed from Taiwan to Tokyo for his studies and left behind Before the Dawn. Giloo Documentary and ChiuKo Publishing present a curated selection of literary documentaries. Let the words of these writers take you elsewhere.
Answer the call of instinct—leave behind the trivialities of daily life and embark on a pilgrimage of encounters with nature and literary exploration. On these journeys of adventure, where limits are tested and boundaries redefined, the soul is transformed. These inseparable life experiences continue to inspire others to move toward distant light. As we listen to their stories, may we too be moved to shoulder our backpacks—and set out to meet a new version of ourselves.
