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8th DMZ Docs(2016)

I AM DOCU



Poetries from the Bookstores

Hou Chi-jan

  • Taiwan
  • 2015
  • 14min
  • DCP
  • color

Korean Premiere

Synopsis

A documentary of indie bookstores and bookstore owners¡¯ attitude toward life and beliefs. To grasp the beauty of the bookstore itself and the life pursuit of bookstore owner, the documentary featured several short films to highlight the atmosphere of book reading of Taiwan in the twenty-first century. These bookstores are like stars that shine in the darkness of the great universe. We interviewed and followed each owner's daily life and try to reveal the poetic beauty that lies behind their solid beliefs.

Review

The documentary shows the faith of independent bookstore owners and their daily lives. The first part¡¯s A-Wei of the ¡®A-Wei¡¯s Bookstore¡¯ has lived in the bookstore for 19 years as of upcoming May. Based on A-Wei¡¯s belief that most visitors of the bookstore are nice, he has communicated with them and when its 20th anniversary of the bookstore, he wants to open his own concert and invites his customers.

The second part, ¡®Uncle Happy¡¯s Bookstore¡¯s Uncle Happy picks up books abandoned or donated by people. Cleaning an old vinyl record discovered from books, his hands seem to have much more stories than books but he just walks around the city like a wanderer looking for books.

The third part, ¡®PNP USED BOOKS¡¯ stands across a recycling factory. The bookstore owner feels sorry for worthy books that were to be destroyed by a compressor, he picks up valuable books trying to deliver the art of antique books and their value.

The last part, ¡®The Bookstore around the Corner and Your Lifetime¡¯ director portrays a bookstore looking very familiar as if anyone can find it at any place where visitors want to take a rest for a while. Bookstore lights around the corner warmly and softly shine as if the place is a shelter for lost souls.

In the film, bookstores are just like stars shining alone in the vast dark universe. [Lee Jung-eun]​

Director

  • Hou Chi-jan

    Ode to Time (2016)The Thrill (2014)When a Wolf Falls in Love with A Sheep (2012)Juliet's Choice (2010)One Day (2010) These stories from the bookstores are actually stories about the bookstore owners¡¯ real lives. They have their own life styles, such as the retro way of living against the modern world. Observing them was like to observe the most tender and pure part deep side my mind. It¡¯s llike the light of the origin of human civilization.​​ 

Credit

  • Cinematography Feng Shin-Huai
  • Editor Gao Ming-Shen
  • Music Han Chen-Yeh

Contribution / World Sales

Contribution / World Sales  Dreamland Image Co, Ltd

Phone  886 2 2707 6060

E-mail  may@dream-land.com.tw​