The epic historical Taiwanese film, Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale, will screen at the Durban International Film Festival on 21 July and 27 July at Suncoast.
Directed by Wei Te-Sheng, known for the commercially successful Cape No. 7, Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale chronicles the fight by an indigenous Taiwanese people against Japanese colonisers.
The film focuses on Mouna Rudo, the leader of the Seediq tribe, who in 1930 forged a coalition with other tribes in the area and led his small army of 300 indigenous people in rebellion against the mighty forces of the Japanese occupation.
Seediq Bale was made over a period of two years with a budget of 600m New Taiwanese Dollars. It proved a huge hit in Chinese language markets, generating 1bn New Taiwanese Dollars in revenue.
Produced by famed Hong Kong director John Woo, Seediq Bale won Best Film at the 2011 Golden Horse Awards, Asia’s most prestigious film awards. It also won Best Supporting Actor (Boken Kosang), Best Sound Effects, Best Original Film Score and the Audience Choice Award.
The film also made the shortlist of nine films to be considered for the Best Foreign Language Film category of the 2011 Oscars.
An exclusive interview with Wei Te-Sheng will appear in the September issue of Screen Africa.
