Taiwanese documentary film Flight-Exploring the Life of Birds, has won a Gold Award and an Award of Excellence at two US film festivals, Taijiang National Park Headquarters said in a statement on Wednesday.
The film won a Gold Award in the Nature & Wildlife, Film & Video Productions category at the WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival, held from April 23 to 28.
It also won an Award of Excellence in the Nature/Environment/Wildlife Documentary Feature category at the Accolade Global Film Competition.
Photo courtesy of National Taichung Theater
The documentary by director Liao Tung-kun (廖東坤) captured birds flying, foraging, migrating, molting and breeding at Taijiang National Park in Tainan. Birds tend to fly south from the park or stay there for the winter, as it is on one of the bird migration routes and has wetland ecosystems such as salt marshes, fishponds, mangroves, coastal forests and lagoons.
The film took more than two years to make, with every frame being the result of endless waiting and repeated shots, the statement said.
This included the crew disguising themselves under the scorching sun for 13 hours a day for more than four consecutive days in an attempt to film a tern hatching, it added.
In addition, the crew also witnessed the drastic impact of climate change, such as drought and heavy rain, on migratory birds, it said.
“What we can do is to give them better habitats, allowing these migratory guests to have a more serene environment with abundant resources,” Liao said.
According to the headquarters, Taiwan is a hub of bird migration with about 700 bird species logged in the country.
The film recorded more than 400 species of birds in Taijiang National Park alone.
In other news, Taiwanese dancer Hsueh Yu-hsien (薛喻鮮) won first prize for solo choreography and best dancer at the 33rd Spanish Dance and Flamenco Choreography Competition in Madrid on Sunday.
The solo dance work, Laughter and Oblivion (Risa y olvido), portrays everyday life experiences as an unbreakable umbilical cord connecting the soul and the earth, Hsueh said. Hsueh on Facebook thanked Taiwan for being “the umbilical cord of her soul.”
She also thanked her boyfriend Taboeh a oebay tataysi, a Taiwanese indigenous dancer, for being her art director and helping her break free from boundaries on her path to Spanish dance choreography.
She also expressed thanks to her mother, Ho Lian-hua (賀連華), a reputed flamenco performer, for being the strongest supporter and best role model in her artistic career.
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