Taipei Main Station
Around Taipei Main station, there are many homeless people living under relatively harsh conditions like changing weather, insufficient food supply and not least, unexpected violence at night.
“A humbling, kaleidoscopic look at the lives of the marginalized. Bravely throws back the veil on those hiding in plain sight.”
In Depth with the Directors - Kuo Po-Yun and Fang Jen-Yu
Hello, tell us a bit about yourselves and your background in filmmaking
We are two directors collaborating in this film, KUO, PO-YUN and FANG, JEN-YU. Both of us are studying at the National Chengchi University of Taiwan, majoring in radio and television. We are very passionate about filmmaking, and have been devoting ourselves to making experimental films and documentaries. In the study of making experimental film, we are struck by the questions : What is the essence in the form of filming itself? And what can we reflect ourselves from the act of filming, which is both an act of thinking and intuitive? We are also trying different forms of art (like video installation) , in the search of more possibilities.
How did Taipei Main Station first come together as a project?
It began when we accidentally participated in a charity activity, which is an event held by an NGO that focuses on homelessness issues.
At this event, we cooked meals and distributed them to the homeless using the unsold ingredients in a market. Our goal was not only to keep them away from hunger and cold but also to spread the issue of homelessness to the society, hoping to break the stereotypes. In Taiwan, there is news about homeless people fighting each other, drinking and making trouble, stealing money, but there is rarely news seeing through the structural inequality in our society and care about the harsh living conditions of the homeless. Therefore, the mainstream viewpoint of our society usually sees them only as people who are too lazy to work and wait for food or people who are violent, committing crimes. However, the facts around Taipei main station are way more complicated.
After participating in the event, we decided we had to learn more about the issue of homeless people. So we just started to chat with them around the station. Initially I thought that our communication with the homeless would be difficult. There are many differences between us including the gap of our age (they are probably 30 or 40 years older than us), cultural differences in people from city and rural areas in Taiwan, and most of all, the great differences of our lifestyles and backgrounds. Some of the homeless even suffer from mental illness, having difficulties to communicate to others. However, after spending time getting along with them and having meals together (most of them were supplied by the charity), we found out that it wasn't difficult for us to know each other. This experience struck us profoundly, making us reflect on our original thoughts. After spending lots of time around Taipei main station, we found out that there are a great variety of life experiences between them. For instance, some of them were poor since their childgood, but some of them were successful, even a CEO of a big company. In addition to understanding their stories, we also find things that resonate with them, and feel the friendship that seems to be familiar, like friends we haven't seen for many years. Fascinated by their stories, we gradually started the documentary project in this process.
A lot of the film is shot from ground level, putting the camera on the same elevation as the homeless. Why did you make this choice?
Despite the fact that we have completely different life experiences from the homeless people, we still want to approach their perspective through the photography of filming, trying to understand their feelings. This choice came from our experience during the mentioned charity activity. We were invited to sit on the cardboard boxes to chat with the homeless people, rather than simply passing by and giving away meals. What they wanted to emphasize is that it can make real differences when we actually “sit down.” It’s about empathizing with their feelings, which makes a big contrast to the way of seeing when we stand up and look down.
However, during the further process of our project, we also questioned this “way of seeing” and expressed our reflexive thoughts through the transformation of the narrative.
There is a mixture of still photography put into the film. What is the story behind these photos?
Many of the still photos in the film were taken by our subjects. We were curious about the perspective of their daily lives so we gave them a lomo film quicksnap camera (which is relatively simpler to use). There is another reason for this attempt, that is, we want to reverse the common narrative when people think of the homeless. We were perplexed by the complex relationship between us and our subject, which led us to rethink the aesthetic style of this film and the representation of them. We believe that during the filming process, when we possess the camera, it also means that we possess the power, and this a serious issue that every documentary filmmaker should never neglect nor avoid questioning, not to mention the difficult situations for the homeless to be exposed. So we gave our camera to them, trying to reverse the original way of the narrative and furthermore, trying to see what we can’t see in our own perspectives.
They filmed many fragments of their lives including going to the underground street market to listen to the performers playing saxophone, which is the only entertainment in their daily lives, going to the night market to eat free tastings for food and clothing, etc... One of the photos is an old railway locomotive decoration in front of Taipei Main Station which happened to be right in front of where one of our subjects lives, in which he would see it as long as he wakes up and looks up. He said that he loved trains since he was a child because he kept dreaming that trains can carry him to any place. He yearns for a train that can carry people everywhere, but he stays where he is, where people keep traveling. The photos make me feel deeply.
Other photos also reflect their living conditions and thoughts, shuttling between joys and pains. We reorganized and collaged the original negatives of these photos, trying to express our feeling of struggle in the shooting process near the end of the film, making it as a sad, beautiful dream.
In addition to distress, there is also a sense of powerlessness that we can’t actually do anything to really change the conditions. We can do nothing, only expect to genuinely speak out of the stories.
You are warned about the dangers of being in the area at night. Was safety a concern in making this film?
Corners around the station are crowded with the homeless, as if there was some kind of barrier that no one dared to break in. And it’s also true that sometimes it can be violent and dangerous around the station at night. There are many homeless people who cannot accept the frustration of their lives because of poverty, loneliness or fear of being recognized. They are also very sensitive to cameras. They sometimes shouted at us even when we were just passing by with our camera without recording, considering us to be news reporters.
There are also many who left the gangs. Some people drink and gets into fights because of different reasons. In fact, it is said that on average, one person will die per fortnight usually due to violent incidents, and some people will die due to illness, and there are also people raped after drinking. In fact, one day before we went to shoot, a death occurred in the toilet.
Fortunately, apart from being shouted at, no more serious dangerous incidents happened to us. It was also because one of our subjects told us about the situation and the way to deal with it, so we were able to be more cautious and calm. We usually pass quickly to avoid more eye contact and misunderstanding. So in the process of shooting, whether it is safe is something we always need to pay attention to.
Was it easy for the people you interviewed to trust you and to open up to you?
We met a lot of homeless people during the 8-months filming process. The appearance of a large camera usually causes an insecure feeling for them. As a result, we usually spend lots of time just chatting and cautiously inquire about their willingness to be filmed. The subjects who appeared in the film are few of them who eventually trust us and established a friendly relationship with us.
Mr. Chen, who appeared in the beginning of the film is an eldery living alone. He and his friend, Ms. Yu, who avoided exposing her face in the film treated us like their grandsons. When we sat around the corner and chatted, it was like visiting our grandparents. They even kept sharing the snacks and warm clothes they got from the charity to us. Every time when we were about to leave, they always invited us to come again.
Mr. Chang, who was also very enthusiastic to us, always invited us to drink and play games with him nearly until the last bus arrived.
However, during the process, many homeless people were repulsed by us, worrying that we were news reporters or hypocritical charity members. Most of them do not want their lives to be disturbed.
What projects are coming for you in the future?
Recently we are devoting ourselves to the art of video installations. We are thinking about how to present the issues we care about in different materials of art, and how our works can make more influences.