Chang Chao-Tang

Artists contributing to the 1966 Modern Poetry Exhibition included HUANG Hua-cheng, LONG Sih-liang, HUANG Yong-song, and CHANG Chao-tang; each artist chose their favorite modern poems and transformed them into imagery. This film is a time capsule capturing some of the exhibits, as well as the young artists.

The Pasta’ay, which means "the festival of the legendary little people," is a significant ritual held every other year in the Saisiat aborigine group in Taiwan. Every ten years, they hold the Great Ritual. This film focuses on the Great Ritual in 1986. It tries to convey the Saisiat people’s affection for and belief in the legendary little people. At the same time, the film brings into light Saisiat people’s ambivalence towards tourist invasion, and their dilemma of being caught between tradition and modernization. Structured by the Pasta’ay songs’ movements, the film breaks down to 15 chapters. It carefully juxtaposes the visual with the aural elements, which are conveyed in the conceptual dichotomy between “the real” and “the artificial.”

In 1994 HUANG Hua-cheng showed his 8mm film Experiment 002 during a seminar titled ‘Theater Quarterly and Me’ at the Chinese Taipei Film Archive. This film is a recording of the seminar, documenting how the film was played and the seminar proceedings. HUANG passed away in 1996, and his earlier films have been lost.

A woman resorts to prostitution out of hunger and commits suicide shortly after, leaving her daughter to embark on an equally cruel path.

A group of Mainlanders fleeing the Cultural Revolution risk all to reach the adjacent British ‘haven’ of Hong Kong; yet what they find there is a far cry from their dreams of liberty.

Early collaboration between Chang Chan-tang and Christopher Doyle documenting the friendship of their inner circle in Taiwan during the early 80s.

An in-depth documentary on the reclusive Taiwanese artist Huang Hua-Cheng and his avant-garde legacy. Commissioned by the Taipei Fine Arts Museum for the retrospective exhibition: “An Open Ending: Huang Hua-Cheng” (2020).

A biographical documentary filmed in 1999 on the occasion of Chang Chao-tang (張照堂) receiving the National Award for Arts (國家文藝獎) in the Fine Arts category (美術類). In the film he is credited as both director and editor under the pseudonym “Gao Shang-tu” (高尚土)—a name derived by decomposing the character “tang” (堂) into its constituent elements “gao” (高), “shang” (尚), and “tu” (土). Semantically, the pseudonym implies a counter-reference to the notion of temple-like, institutional “high culture,” redirecting emphasis instead toward the vernacular and the earthy—suggesting that what is truly “noble” lies in the force emerging from the “soil” (土) of the people. For this reason, the film may also be understood as a semi-autobiographical documentary that carries an element of self-writing within its particular historical context.

This short documentary portrays Chang Yingwu (1921–1984), a man whose extraordinary body became a site where medicine, spectacle, and state power intersected. Born in Beijing and later relocated to Taiwan, Chang lived with acromegaly, reaching a height far beyond ordinary human scale. Once exhibited, later enlisted, and eventually turned into a public figure through sport and media, his life traces how an anomalous body is disciplined, displayed, and normalized by social institutions. Filmed with restraint rather than sensationalism, the work observes Chang’s daily gestures and silences, allowing his presence to expose the fragile boundary between individuality and social gaze.

A surreal uninhibited adventure between two boys, their mysterious love interest and two Japanese monks in the Tang dynasty. Feature debut by the acclaimed scriptwriter Chiu Kang-Chien.

An intimate two-person portrait of painter Hsieh Hsiao-te (謝孝德) and his illiterate, self-taught sculptor father Hsieh Chin-shou (謝金壽), exploring urban-rural tensions, generational differences, and divergences in their choice of media. A short documentary from Chang Chao-tang’s (張照堂) tenure on the China Television Company’s News Highlights (新聞集錦) program.

This landmark 1981–82 documentary series consists of weekly 25-minute episodes filmed across Taiwan using an ENG (Electronic News Gathering) camera. It documents local customs and social textures through a distinctly humanistic lens. The project also marks an early collaboration between Christopher Doyle and Chang Chao-Tang.

Documenting outsider artist Lin Yuan (林淵, 1913-1992), a self-taught folk artist from Nantou (南投), and his stone sculptures—works marked by simplicity, naturalness, and a vital rural vernacular spirit.

"Wild Cursive" is the third piece of Taiwanese dancer and choreographer Lin Hwai-min's Cursive trilogy, a captivating series translating the development of the fascinating art form of Chinese calligraphy into dance. As Lin says himself, the final part marks the climax of the trilogy, because it corresponds to the completely detached, free and highly abstract forms of “spontaneous” calligraphy. The performance contains elements of Tai Chi and is musically accompanied by compositions by Jim Shum and Liang Chun-mei. The performance was recorded in 2009 at the National Theater in Taipei, Taiwan.

This landmark dance film presents Legacy, a defining work by Lin Hwai-min and Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan, directed for screen by Chang Chao-Tang. Premiered in 1978, the work marked one of the first major theatrical productions centered on Taiwan’s own history, leaving a powerful and immediate impact. Built on a strong sense of ritual, Legacy evokes collective memory and identity, reflecting Cloud Gate’s commitment to engaging with society and history through dance. This documentary captures a 2003 performance for the company’s 30th anniversary. With live percussion by JUT Percussion Group and the voice of Chen Da, the dancers push their physical limits in an intense and deeply emotional staging.

This dance film presents Nine Songs as reimagined by Lin Hwai-min and performed by Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan, directed for screen by Chang Chao-Tang. Drawing on ancient ritual poetry, the work evokes prayers to heaven and earth, spirits and ancestors, as well as love and mourning. Masked gods and human figures move together in a ceremonial structure, staging a timeless vision of human experience. Premiered in 1993, Nine Songs became one of Cloud Gate’s most important works. A studio fire in 2008 nearly caused the piece to be lost, but a surviving ceremonial mask remained as a trace of its legacy. This film records the production before the fire, preserving its original form. Moving across layered time and space, the choreography creates a powerful, immersive atmosphere. Through moments of wonder, grief, and ecstasy, the work unfolds toward a state of clarity and quiet transcendence.

"The Beauty of Rituals" (《祭典之美》) by Chang Chao-tang (張照堂) surveys Taiwanese folk festivals across regions and seasons, framing them through the perspectives of archaeologist Chen Chi-lu (陳奇祿), choreographer Lin Hwai-min (林懷民), psychologist Yu Te-hui (余德慧), and painter Shiy De-jinn (席德進). The script and voiceover by Chiang Hsun (蔣勳) articulate the symbolic and affective dimensions of traditional belief.With music by Ma Shui-long (馬水龍), Chou Wen-chung (周文中), Kitaro (喜多郎), and Mike Oldfield, the film juxtaposes Eastern and Western sonic forms, re-mediating ritual as a dynamic contemporary cultural field.

My Nostalgia, My Songs is a poetic documentary centered on Lin Hwai-min’s landmark dance work for Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan. The music, curated by iconic photographer Chang Chao-tang, weaves Taiwanese folk melodies into reflections on urban migration and collective memory. Through the cinematography and editing of Christopher Doyle, the stage becomes a cinematic space, transforming performance into a sensory meditation on Taiwanese identity and cultural displacement in the 1980s.

This dance film presents Siddhartha as reimagined by Lin Hwai-min and performed by Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan, directed for screen by Chang Chao-Tang. Inspired by Hesse’s novel and a pilgrimage to Bodh Gaya, where the Buddha attained enlightenment, Lin created a work of stillness and elemental force. The stage is shaped by tons of golden rice grains into shifting landscapes—like rain, waterfalls, and deserts. Georgian folk songs flow through the space as dancers, carrying wooden staffs, move in slow, spiraling journeys, while a monk in white remains motionless. In the final scene, a dancer rakes the grains into vast concentric circles, forming an image of quiet intensity. Premiered in 1994, this 90-minute work is one of Lin’s key creations. Widely toured and acclaimed, it remains among Cloud Gate’s most performed works. Recorded in high definition, this 2013 version stands as the definitive edition of this landmark piece.

This dance film presents Dream of the Red Chamber as reimagined by Lin Hwai-min and performed by Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan, directed for screen by Chang Chao-Tang. Inspired by the classic Chinese novel, the story centers on the fragile love between Jia Baoyu, Lin Daiyu, and Xue Baochai, set against the rise and fall of a great aristocratic family. Lin’s choreography frames the tale as a memory: a young man who has left the garden looks back on a vanished world. The Twelve Beauties appear in flowing, embroidered costumes, moving through falling flowers and shifting seasons. Classical imagery merges with contemporary dance, creating a restrained yet lyrical visual language. Premiered in 1983, the work became one of Cloud Gate’s signature productions. In 2005, Lin retired the piece as the company turned toward a more austere, introspective aesthetic. This film preserves a late-stage performance, documenting a key work from Cloud Gate’s early repertoire.