It all begins with a documentary film.
In 2021 winter, we joined a documentary team to a journey into the southern coast to Danjia, with a passion for understanding their rich history, traditions, and daily lives.
By meticulously researching their customs, clothing, food, and language, we’ve built a platform that brings their stories to life, sharing them with the world to celebrate their cultural resilience.
During our time in their floating villages, we filmed the Tanka’s unique fishing practices and daily life, exploring their deep connection to the sea. Through conversations with locals like Lee, a fisherman’s son, we realized the complex balance between preserving tradition and adapting to the pressures of modern tourism.
We started with interviewing the fishermen on the fishrafts.
From design to production, from filming to post-production, and from the front stage to behind the scenes, we ventured into the life of the Tanka people living on floating homes. It was a unique documentary journey. The fishermen's rafts in the rain, the shy dog at the fishermen’s home, fishing boats returning to shore in the soft morning light, and the fierce grouper fish attacking its prey... these seemingly simple scenes often required hours or even days of waiting.
During the shoot, a GO PRO camera was repeatedly attacked by a grouper, causing the lens to detach, and the dive instructor was bitten on the finger by a grouper while filming underwater up close. Each frame captured is a cherished memory, bringing them a sense of achievement.
As they themselves said, "We never expected to win such a prestigious award. We just wanted to share the stories we saw. We will continue to work hard, filming and documenting more stories from this land."
