The Forgotten City
Director：Gary SHIH / HOU Ning
This documentary is directed by two filmmakers from both sides of the Taiwan Strait and jointly tells the story of an era, through depicting the changing reality in Taiwan’s “military dependents’ villages” and the “third-front factories” in Henan Province, China.
60 years ago, Mr. ZHU, who was forced to serve in the army, left his native Zhoushan for Taiwan. He settled down in Zhuoying, but no one understood him with his heavy Zhejiang accent. When facing Taiwan’s Reconstruction Plan of Military Dependents’ Villages, he simply obeyed the government’s order without complaining.
40 years ago, Mr. ZHANG moved to the mountains in Henan from Shanxi and has since settled down in Nanyang. But his nearly perfect Mandarin was so different from the local Henanese accent, which made him feel alienated. Now, the factory that he lived and worked for most of his life is declining. With his old age and recent bankruptcy, he has no choice but to be relocated…
Both of them grew up in wartime. Since the Chinese Civil War, there have been endless battles in China. They have done everything for their country, but, years later, their country failed them.
China’ Nanyang and Taiwan’s Zhuoying have some strange similarities. They both have a self-contained community that has everything, but none of them is enough. There are schools, makeshift clinics, playgrounds for children and parks with swings…After so many years, these old facilities are still there, but most people are gone.
When the film’s protagonists get the keys to their newly allocated flats, or when the movers arrive at their old houses, some of them are reluctant to leave, while some look forward to it. But after they turn around, they’ll always keep the memories of their old houses in their hearts.
About the Director
Gary SHIH began his career in TV production in 1988 and switched to documentary production in 2004. Since then, he has produced many documentaries for National Geographic Channel and his films have been screened internationally. From 2008 to 2012, he has been invited to attend the “International Producers Day” at Guangzhou International Documentary Film Festival. Besides The Forgotten City , he collaborated again with director HUO Ning in 2012 on Whitefield Sailors , which was awarded Project with Most Market Potential at GZDOC 2012 DocuMart Pitching and nominated for The Asian Pitch. He was also the host/jury for New Taipei City Documentary Pitching in 2012 and 2013.
HOU Ning was born in Henan, the most populated province of China. His childhood interest in drawing has led him to study Fine Arts Education at Henan Normal University. Since graduation, he started working as a TV cinematographer. His education in fine arts has helped him developed and maintained an aesthetic perspective, which provides a solid foundation for his commercial and documentary works. Besides working in advertisement, he puts more energy into film, his favorite subject. He grew up with the economic development of China, and his films also focus on the changes in Chinese history and in ordinary people’s lives. His documentary works have received widespread positive responses.
Filmography
2013 Whitefield Sailors
2010 The Tomb Digger
From the Director
This documentary is made by directors from both sides of the Taiwan Strait and jointly tells the story of an era. One of them portrays Taiwan’s “military dependents’ villages” and the other documents the “third-front factories” in Henan Province, China. When the two directors exchanged their settings and close their eyes, they couldn’t tell where they were by the sounds and smells around them!
Initially, when we decided to base our film on such a subject, we only wanted to keep a record of how we grew up. Especially for HUO Ning, many of his relatives and friends are still living in the factories. We tend to reminisce the past as we grow older. He started to document what was about to be forgotten, and I know that the military dependents’ villages in Taiwan are going to be a page in the history too. When people are just getting aware of something, it is already too late…
As we start to combine our footages, we found many coincidences. Our protagonists have similar backgrounds and experienced the same kind of relocation and difficulties in communication. They lived their lives in the shadow of war and were forced to leave their “hometowns” for unfamiliar places. Eventually, they built another home, raised their children there and settled down.
We tried to blur the lines between the two sides of Taiwan Strait and make “ambiguity” the spirit of this film. After all, there are too many coincidences and historical burdens in these stories. We’ll never be able to look into them even if we want to.