Why does one go to the cinema? For some, it is to escape the reality of life. For Anika Tokarchuk, cinema is the reality of her life. For the past six years, her existence has revolved around the shifting images, sounds, and characters on the screen. Recently, the Canadian filmmaker who is now living in Taipei debuted her documentary, Life as Cinema, on Public Television Service (PTS,
What started off in 1998 as a documentary on the making of The Cup by Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche led Tokarchuk on a journey from Canada through Europe, India and finally to Taiwan. Her project has turned into a three-part series, drawing on support from respected members of the Taiwanese film industry and various buddhist organizations.
"This documentary started off as Rinpoche's idea," Tokarchuk said. "Of course, I really was excited about it, but I had no idea how incredible and how wild the adventure would be. I've lived through this whole amazing experience while making this film, and by doing so I think it has molded the character of the film."
PHOTO COURTESY OF ANIKA TOKARCHUK,IMAGE LANTERN PICTURES LTD
At first, the road was smooth. With a conditional approval for funding through the Canadian film and television industry, Tokarchuk left to begin shooting in India. Six months later, however, on the same day she received permission to interview the Dalai Lama, the offer for funding was unexpectedly withdrawn. Having explored all avenues for financial support before leaving Canada, Tokarchuk felt returning was not an option. To make things worse, she had only US$200 remaining and no return flight.
"It really felt like a dead end to go back. And plus I had my film 80 percent made, it's kind of like if you are seven months pregnant you can't have an abortion, you have to go through with it," she said.
Contemplating her next move, Tokarchuk remained in Dharamshala, where she met a number of individuals teaching English in north-east Asia. Taiwan, a prosperous English teaching market and a country with a growing relationship with Tibet -- both in funding and number of dharma students -- seemed to offer the best environment for Anika's film.
PHOTO COURTESY OF ANIKA TOKARCHUK,IMAGE LANTERN PICTURES LTD
A coincidental meeting with the well-known Taiwanese director, Stan Lai (
Two years went by and Tokarchuk took up residence in Taiwan as an English teacher. After earning enough money to furbish her own home film studio, she was ready to begin the arduous job of editing. An increasingly visible future slowly emerged through a web of connections, one of which is Hung Hung (
Associate director of Life as Cinema, Hung encouraged
PHOTO COURTESY OF ANIKA TOKARCHUK,IMAGE LANTERN PICTURES LTD
Tokarchuk to "go wild" with the 200-hours of footage. "It is much more than a film to her," said Hung, "It is a journey of discovery and the Buddhist dharma that she was practicing through the making of this film. She needed to continue, to finish the project."
Hung said that, to some people, the film might be too experimental in its approach. "Some films need to be seen twice to be understood," he said, implying it's not easy to digest a real meal after being fed junk food for so long.
Sylvia Feng (
PHOTO COURTESY OF ANIKA TOKARCHUK,IMAGE LANTERN PICTURES LTD
One scene in the documentary covers a discussion held at the famed Wisteria Tea House in Taipei. Feng said, "No Taiwanese photographer could capture the aura of Wisteria Tea House [a popular meeting place for"intellectuals'] better than Anika [Tokarchuk] ... her visualization of the intellectual culture in Taipei may spark enlightenment for Taiwanese directors."
The appreciation of Tokarchuk's film, however, goes beyond just artistic or intellectual circles. The Hao Ran Foundation (
Another supporter, Su-Jei Own (
PHOTO COURTESY OF ANIKA TOKARCHUK, IMAGE LANTERN PICTURES LTD
Tokarchuk's experience of making the film changed her perceptions, as she thought they would. "The experience that I've gone through has been my version of living through the themes in Life as Cinema. It really has been this experience of living in this amazing reality."
On Jan. 17, Beijing announced that it would allow residents of Shanghai and Fujian Province to visit Taiwan. The two sides are still working out the details. President William Lai (賴清德) has been promoting cross-strait tourism, perhaps to soften the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) attitudes, perhaps as a sop to international and local opinion leaders. Likely the latter, since many observers understand that the twin drivers of cross-strait tourism — the belief that Chinese tourists will bring money into Taiwan, and the belief that tourism will create better relations — are both false. CHINESE TOURISM PIPE DREAM Back in July
Taiwan doesn’t have a lot of railways, but its network has plenty of history. The government-owned entity that last year became the Taiwan Railway Corp (TRC) has been operating trains since 1891. During the 1895-1945 period of Japanese rule, the colonial government made huge investments in rail infrastructure. The northern port city of Keelung was connected to Kaohsiung in the south. New lines appeared in Pingtung, Yilan and the Hualien-Taitung region. Railway enthusiasts exploring Taiwan will find plenty to amuse themselves. Taipei will soon gain its second rail-themed museum. Elsewhere there’s a number of endearing branch lines and rolling-stock collections, some
Could Taiwan’s democracy be at risk? There is a lot of apocalyptic commentary right now suggesting that this is the case, but it is always a conspiracy by the other guys — our side is firmly on the side of protecting democracy and always has been, unlike them! The situation is nowhere near that bleak — yet. The concern is that the power struggle between the opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and their now effectively pan-blue allies the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) and the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) intensifies to the point where democratic functions start to break down. Both
This was not supposed to be an election year. The local media is billing it as the “2025 great recall era” (2025大罷免時代) or the “2025 great recall wave” (2025大罷免潮), with many now just shortening it to “great recall.” As of this writing the number of campaigns that have submitted the requisite one percent of eligible voters signatures in legislative districts is 51 — 35 targeting Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus lawmakers and 16 targeting Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers. The pan-green side has more as they started earlier. Many recall campaigns are billing themselves as “Winter Bluebirds” after the “Bluebird Action”
RSS