202305/09
When World's Collide: A Formosan Black Bear's Deadly Dance with Civilization, a documentary produced by the Forestry Bureau won a Gold Remi for the Long Shorts - Documentary category in the 56th WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival, one of the most acclaimed competitive international film festivals in the world. The documentary was also the only film from Taiwan invited for screening, which was a rare opportunity for the bureau. The Chinese and English version of the documentary is now available on YouTube. The Forestry Bureau welcomes the public to watch the documentary. Apart from gaining an understanding of complications faced in the conservation of Formosan black bears, the public can also ruminate on how to co-exist with wild animals in a rational manner.
The Forestry Bureau said that Vision Way Communication was engaged to produce the documentary. Since its screening between January and April this year, the documentary had been very well received. The documentary had also been getting much good news from international film festivals. Of which, the WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival, which has been held for over 50 years, was held for the first time since 1961 in Houston, Texas. It is one of the oldest independent film festivals in the world. Along with San Francisco International Film Festival and New York Film Festival, they are known to be the three most competitive international film festivals. Ang Lee’s and Steven Spielberg’s early works also competed in these festivals. Each year, thousands of films will be submitted to the WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival. In recent years, non-commercial works from Taiwan, dramatic or nondramatic, would take part in the festival. The Formosan Black Bear documentary was submitted for the Long Shorts - Documentary category. The awards for the category to be conferred include Platinum, Gold, Silver and Bronze Remis. The documentary is the only long film from Taiwan that won the WorldFest 56-Long Shorts - Documentary Gold Remi award. The achievement is indeed remarkable.
The director of the documentary, Wen-Ru Yen was delighted and said that most award-winning films might not be selected for screening at the film festival. The organizer would carefully select the films to be screened in theaters out of all winning works during the film festival. Apart from winning an award, according to Yen, the more surprising thing was that the documentary was the only film invited for screening in theaters during the WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival. On April 30, 2023, the documentary was screened in the Cinemark Memorial City. The bureau and the production company were very thankful of the recognition they received.
The bureau indicated that the documentary records the journey of a black bear that was initially released for research purposes. After two rescues and two releases back to the wild, the bear unfortunately met its end. From the perspective of villagers, the documentary examines how bears and people can interact in a rational manner. Furthermore, caretakers of the bear also offer insights into their journey of looking after and tracking the wild animal. The Chinese and English versions of the documentary is now available on the bureau's YouTube channel (Chinese version: https://reurl.cc/OVy9MD; English version: https://reurl.cc/3O2v7j).
To promote the conservation education of Formosan Black Bears, the Forestry Bureau announced that government bodies, public and private educational institutions, libraries, legitimate non-profit organization, corporations and bookstores can publicly screen the documentary for non-profit purposes. They are not required to seek licensing from the bureau.
The Forestry Bureau also appeals to the public to contact the bureau at its 24-hour hotline (0800-000-930) in the event of accidentally harming or capturing a black bear, or finding a black bear in distress or is causing harm. The bureau will immediately initiate a rescue mechanism. People are encouraged to take the opportunity to rescue a black bear and get a reward for their altruistic action. The bureau hopes that people can jointly contribute to the conservation effort so that people and bears can co-exist harmoniously.