Un/Uttered

The screening series, Un/Uttered, curated by P.M.S., highlights works that navigate the delicate balance between “utterance” and “unuttered,” to approach the essence of individual existence within the complex fabric of contemporary society. 

This duality gives rise to unique narratives, enabling the characters' exploration of multifaceted self-identification and complicated interpersonal connections. Through the expressive medium of music, shifts in language, and the silent eloquence of demonstrations, these selected works transcend various boundaries, spanning the expanses of oceans and continents, the vibrant aspects between urban landscapes and traditional communities, and even blurring the boundaries between the human sphere and the natural world, challenging the complexities of gender distinctions along the way. These boundaries are traversed through states of "utterance" or "unuttered," exposing the individuals' "dwelling places" of the heart and reality in diverse circumstances, intricately weaving the complex challenges of personal resilience in contemporary society.

In the first section, the three directors Kawah Umei, Rngrang Hungul, and Kagaw Omin all originate from distinct indigenous nations in Taiwan. Through conversations with their mothers, the directors interspersed their mother tongues/voices into films, transitioning between multiple languages, including Mandarin, Japanese, Amis, Taroko, and Thai, as well as Yunnanese and even the vocalizations of animals. With their mothers, they imbued themselves in the vocal nuances, semantic subtleties, and syntactical complexities in each language, grasping the essence of things and simultaneously revealing the subtle interaction of gender, ethnicity, and power dynamics. Their existences unfold in the vast ocean of languages, delineating the domain of their self-identities.

In the second section, directors Posak Jodian and Baru Madiljin, through their distinct cinematic styles and orchestrated sounds, depict the characters’ navigation of self-identity in both contemporary and traditional communities. This portrayal is achieved even within a deliberately constructed framework, where the bodies serve as the conduit for survival, interpretation, and expression of the self, ultimately in search of the desired mental and physical abodes, aspirations and realities.

Posak Jodian’s work Misfafahyan Metamorphosis presents the character’s daily life and transgender performances as an integrated entity, transforming the body into a display window that encompasses a landscape ranging from self-survival to self-demonstration. In the work Uqaljai．蛾 by Baru Madiljin, the characters alternate between wearing traditional costumes and revealing their naked self, allowing them to silently illustrate the fluidity and struggles of the performers’ emotions and desires within these contrasting contexts. Whether documented, narrated, or directed, the visual and auditory compositions of the two works disrupt the existing framework for viewing specific film genres, uncovering a new path within the spheres of artistic expression and realism.

Program

Section 1

The Lost Days | ロストデイズ | 我在林森北的那段日子

Kawah Umei 連晨軿 | Taiwan | 2019 | Colour | 30 mins

Yaku o kuyuh , maduk ku kuyuh I'm a Woman, I'm a Hunter | 私は女、私は猟師 | 我是女人，我是獵人

Rngrang Hungul 余欣蘭 | Taiwan | 2022 | Colour | 17 mins

The Mother‘s Voice | 母の声 | 母語

Kagaw Omin | Taiwan | 2023 | Colour | 15 mins

Section 2

​​Ugaljai・蛾

Baru Madijin 巴魯．瑪迪霖| Taiwan | 2016 | Colour | 4 mins

Misafafahiyan Metamorphosis | Misafafahiyan 変身 | 蛻變

Posak Jodian | Taiwan | 2022 | Colour | 16 mins

Partners

Tra-Travel (JP), Figya (JP), JUU (JP) & OCAC (TW)

本スクリーニング『Un/Uttered』は、「発話されること／utterance」と「発話されないこと／unuttered」の微妙な距離感のもと、複雑な現代社会における個の存在・本質を探る映像作品を選出した。

その二極の狭間で、物語は多面的な自己や、複雑な人間関係を探求する。音楽、言語の変化、つぶやき、仕草などを通じて、これらの作品は海洋と大陸、都市と伝統的な地域社会、さらには人間と自然の境界を曖昧にしながら、ジェンダーの複雑さに言及している。

スクリーニングの第一セクションでは、台湾の異なる先住民族出身という背景をもつ三名の監督Kawah Umei、Rngrang Hungul、Kagaw Ominが、それぞれの母親との対話を通じ、またそれぞれの手法で母語を映画に取り入れ、中国語、日本語、アミ語、タロコ語、タイ語、雲南語、さらには動物の声を含む様々な言語間を行き来する。ジェンダー、民族、権力における力学の微妙な相互作用を、声色や意味、文法の繊細な違いや複雑さを通し本質を探る。彼／彼女らの存在は広大な言語の海で、アイデンティティの輪郭を浮かび上がらせる。

第二セクションでは、2名の監督Posak JodianとBaru Madiljinが、その映像構成とサウンドデザインを通じて、自己のアイデンティティが現代社会と伝統的な部族社会において変化していく様を描く。Posak Jodianによる「Misafafahiyan 変身」では主人公である「ハオハオ」の日常生活と性別を越えたパフォーマンスを一体化し、身体をショーウィンドウに置き換え、自己の生存から表現への道すじを提示する。Baru Madiljinの作品「Uqaljai．蛾」では、パフォーマーたちが伝統的な衣装を身にまとった状態と裸体を行き来しながら、感情と欲望の間で揺れ動くさまや葛藤を無声で描写。これら2人のクリエイターによる視覚と聴覚の構成が、既存の映像作品のジャンルの枠組みを打ち破り、芸術表現と写実的なドキュメント表現に新たな道を切り開く。