“Green Grass, Pale Fire”

CAO DI HUO YAN (草地火焰)│4K│Fiction Short│2021│Taiwan, Japan│21 mins

2021 International Festival of Documentary and Short Film of Bilbao, “International Competition”|
2021 Osaka Asian Film Festival, “Taiwan: Movies on the Move, Classic and Contemporary”

Logline:

The three young Taiwanese miners escaped from the notorious Iriomote coal mine and became the wandering ghosts in the jungle of Iriomote Island in the 1930s.

Synopsis:

Taking place in the 1930s on one of the outskirt islands of the Japanese Empire, a few “PINGINUMU,” or the escapees, attempt to flee from the infamous “Green Jail” coal mine but loose their ways in the tropical jungle. Reenacted based on true historical events, these escapees suffer from starvation, risk a brutal beat-up if caught, or if lucky, they swim to the nearby shore and regain freedom from the nightmare. They become the hungry wandering living-ghosts that are seeking a way out. After the war, locals of the island have more or less witnessed the miners’ ghosts that remain wandering about, as if they were still the poor souls that lost direction.

Staff

Director, Producer: Huang Yin-yu

Screenplay: TIEN Han, Huang Yin-yu

Cast: Atom Lai, Felis Chen, Guo-Chiang Lee

Cinematographer: Nakatani Shungo

Music: Thomas Foguenne

Editor: Huang Yin-yu

Colorist: Nakatani Shungo

Sound Design & Mixing: Chou Cheng, Li Chia-jung, Allen Kang, Lu Chi Rung (Seismic Sound Lab. Ltd.)

Production: Moolin Production, Co., Ltd. & Moolin Films, Ltd.