Watch: Award-Winning Short Documentary ‘Still Here’ Shot in Taiwan
“All we see are walls. But what these walls contain, all of our memories, what our parents passed down to us…” Still Here is a stunning short film directed by Taiwanese-American filmmaker Sean Wang, and it already won a Sundance Ignite award last year. It also was chosen as the Best Doc of the Year by one of our favorite sites Short of the Week, and they’ve just put it up on their YouTube to watch. “Still Here was filmed in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, in the village where my grandmother lived, my mother grew up, and where I spent my childhood summers,” Sean explains. He returns to investigate why their village has been abandoned, and why they still decided to stay. It’s a beautifully-shot, moving film that acts as rumination on gentrification and changes between generations. And how much stays the same. This is worth taking 10 minutes to watch.
Thanks to Short of the Week for debuting this. Original description from YouTube: “In Kaohsiung, Taiwan, a few residents refuse to leave their now-abandoned village.” Still Here is directed by Taiwanese-American filmmaker Sean Wang, currently based in New York City – see more of his work on Vimeo, follow his IG @seanswang, or visit his official website. Produced by Cynthia Lee, Pamela Li, and Sean Wang. Featuring cinematography by Zach Stoltzfus, and music by Breton Vivian. The short was a Sundance Ignite winner for 2020, and in the AFI Docs 2020 official selection. Wang explains: “Nine years ago, my grandmother moved out of the village… I was curious to find out what their lives were like now that the village was abandoned, and why they decided to stay.” For more info, visit SOTW or Vimeo. For more shortx, click here. Thoughts?
