The Spirit Keepers of Makuta’ay

2019 | sound | color | super 8 to HD | 10:57

Shot on location in the traditional Amis territory, The Spirit Keepers of Makuta’ay travels through villages on the east coast of Taiwan, where nature, colonization and population migration merge to create a unique spiritual landscape. The hand processed super 8 unravels mixed faith expressions from Daoist ritual possession to Presbyterian funeral, from personal prayers to collective resistance, all the while attempting to trace the memories of past Amis sorcerers.

Stories & narration by Rara Dongi
Co-produced & sound design by Oliver Lewis
Distribution by La Distributrice de films, serge@ladistributrice.ca

2024     grunt gallery, Vancouver, Canada
2023     Videoex, Zurich, Switzerland
2022     7e Grande rencontre des arts médiatiques en Gaspésie, Percé, Canada
2021      Spellbound - Witch Institute Conference, Toronto Animated Image Society, Toronto, Canada
2020     Taiwan International Video Art Exhibition, Hong-gah Museum, Taipei, Taiwan
2020     We cast Spells on the Mothers of our Daughters and Daughters of our Mothers, Centre A, Vancouver, Canada
2020     European Media Art Festival, Osnabrück, Germany
2020     TIFF Lightbox, Toronto, Canada
2020     True/False Film Festival, Columbia, US
2019     Festival du nouveau cinéma, Montreal, Canada
2019     GAX Asian Indigenous Relations in Contemporary Art, Montreal, Canada
2019     Vancouver International Film Festival, Vancouver, Canada
2019     The Edinburgh International Film Festival, Edinburgh, UK
2019     Leiden International Short Film Experience, Leiden, Netherlands
2019     31 Filmfest Dresden, Experiments, Dresden, Germany
2019     Berlin International Film Festival, Berlinale Shorts, Germany