Foreign brides in fashion for wrong reason: film director

In an article in Monday’s China Times, Tsai Jen-shao commented that 2007 was a year of renewed public focus on Taiwan’s “foreign bride” phenomenon, writing that “Taiwan’s new migrants had been suddenly re-discovered and became the topic of writing competitions, film screenings, debates and forums for the entire year, almost without a single break.”

Tsai explained that after making three documentaries during the past years that focused on the lives of foreign brides, he had become one of many central participants in the movement, often invited to host and participate in discussions or films on the subject.

“Though there’s nothing wrong with being in that position during the popularization of the topic, I was in the midst of it all as it swept over Taiwan like a feverish wave, making it hard for me to see what direction the movement was taking,” Tsai wrote.

Tsai commented that he was invited to screen one of his films on foreign brides during a series of forums held in southern Taiwan, but was shocked by the superficial attitude the hosts took towards the screening.

“One film alone usually needs three hours of discussion before any real progress can be made, yet when they were just half-way through screening a film, they suddenly opened the floor to discussion,” complained Tsai.

After the interrupted screening, many of the guest presenters weren’t even able to contribute to the discussion because of time constraints, wrote Tsai. They were all then presented with lunchboxes, moving him to write that he wasn’t sure which aspect of the whole event was of more importance to the hosts; discussing the issues at hand, or using the issue to hand out some lunchboxes.

Tsai also wrote about being invited by advertising corporations to appear in similar events, which he attended.

He recounts that on one occasion he was asked to direct a documentary following the lives of a group of foreign brides living in Taiwan. Tsai criticizes that he was given only a month to prepare the film, which the company later wanted to adjust to make the plot and characters more simplified, likable and dramatic, saying to Tsai that “This [film] isn’t conveying the message we paid for.”

A disappointed Tsai finally concludes that “From that moment it became clear to me that documentaries are really limited in how much they can do!"

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