Daw-ming Lee

There are more than 320 thousand migrant workers legally hired in Taiwan, among them more than half are from Thailand. To these migrant workers, working abroad in Taiwan is a risky gamble. If they win, they can pay back large amount of brokerage fee and earn some money to support their families. The three Thai workers from northeastern Thailand in this film, however, weren't so lucky. The electronic factory that they'd been working was suddenly closed down. The owner of the factory simply said that he could not afford to pay the salaries of the 100 domestic workers and 100 migrant workers. The Thai workers were eventually deported back to Thailand after fighting futilely for their rights with other migrant and domestic workers. Their dreams of earning money were totally shattered. Some of them were deeply in debt. Would they give up their hopes in earning money from working abroad because of their bad experiences in Taiwan?

The film explores the leadership system in lives of chiefs such as Rangalu who was sworn in as the Head of Santiman District, Taiwan, which consists of 10 villages with the population of 70,000, most of whom are indigenous Paiwan. The Paiwan people live in the mountain area of southern Taiwan. Their rich oral traditions and cultural traits are revealed in this unique film. The two director, Daw-ming Lee and Sakuliu Pavaavalung, exchange their views on political and economic issues.

After his wife dies during childbirth, Ku-cheng leaves his children behind in their rural village while he finds work on a construction site in the city. He develops a relationship with a widow but despite their intimacy, he refuses to remarry.

A documentary of an indigenous artist Pavavalung Sakuliu, who devotes himself to the cultural renaissance of the Paiwan culture, which is endangered throughout the past century when modern economy was introduced to Taiwan by the Japanese colonial government in 1895 and by the Nationalist government which took over Taiwan in 1945.

Based on the story of “Pangu Separates Heaven and Earth,” The Beginning of the Universe starts with the time when the universe was a chaotic mass of air. After the great divide, Pangu’s body becomes the sun, the moon, the stars, the mountains, rivers, trees and grass.