Running Time: 118 mins / Production Year: 2013~2014 / Theatrical Release: Taiwan, 4 April 2014 / Screens: 45
“No one is born to be bullied!”
This is a film based on a true event. Taiwan is established through the agricultural industry. However, the insensitive and short-sighted government has been sacrificing the agricultural industry, conspiring with the huge corporations, and local authorities, in pursue for the short-term economic development. In order to voice up against the authorities’ and the people’s aloofness, a young man from a Changhua farming family secretly builds and places 17 “bombs” in the different locations in Taipei causing a huge disturbance. The media calls him “The Rice Bomber”. He is Yang Rumen.
“Bomb, do not press. 1. Do not import rice. 2. The government should look after its people.” These bold notes are attached to the packet drinks.
He writes to all major medias, in hope that he could make use of the media’s influence to report on the hardship that the farmers are facing, but all to no avail.
He makes several trips to the different authorities but none responded to him.
There’s no hope in seeking a change within the system and Ru understands that revolution is the only hope for Taiwan’s agricultural industry.
CREW & CAST
CREW
Producers: YEH JUFENG, LEE LIEH
Associate Producer: MOLLY HSIAOCHING LIN
Scriptwriters: HUNG HUNG, ZIN DO LAN
Director of Photography: CHO YONGKYU
Gaffers: JEON BYUNG YOON, CHEN KUAN-TING
Art Director: LEE TIAN-JUE
Costume: WEI HSIANG-JUNG
Editor: QIN MAI SONG
Editing Supervisor: LIAO CHING-SUNG
Sound: FRANK CHENG, SUNIT ASVINIKUL
Music: PEYMAN YAZDANIAN
CAST
HUANG CHIEN-WEI as Yang Rumen
NIKKI HSIEH as Troublemaker
MICHAEL CHANG as Yang Dong Cai
HSU CHIA-JUNG as Troublemaker’s Father
WU FAN as Ru’s Father
LU FU-LU as Ru’s Grandfather
LU LIAO BAO as Ru’s Grandmother
YANG PENG-YU as Kid
DIRECTOR
CHO LI
A producer-turned-director, graduated with M.S. degree in Radio/TV/Film from the Indiana State University. After producing critically acclaimed films with producer YEH Jufeng, she turns career to directing, in the hope of developing multi-faceted genre films with unique and irreplaceable point-of-view.
DIR’S STATEMENT
I am from Changhua, the central part of Taiwan, also commonly known as the agriculture city, also the hometown of the movie’s central character – The Rice Bomber, Yang Rumen.
Since the 80s, when Taiwan’s economy begins to thrive (also my growing up years), taking lead from the government, agricultural industry has been neglected and abused, leading to a downfall. When agriculture is obsoleted the basic problems of survival would surface – What could we feed on?
Yang started planting bombs from November 2003, and turned himself in on November 2004. A decade has passed. Over the years I’ve been thinking, why do the government who’re supposed to look after the welfare of the people, always standing on the opposing side? Why do they always have to oppress their people so much to realize how much they could rebut?
I’m not a social activist, neither have I participated in any demonstrations. Filmmaking is the only way that I can express my love-hate feeling towards Taiwan’s society. I still hope that through films, we can let the world become a better place. Perhaps, every deteriorating society would need a rice bomb!
AWARDS
*Selected for the PANORAMA section at the Berlin Int’l Film Festival, 2014.
*Special Award at the Milan African, Asian and Latin American Film Festival, 2014.
*Special Jury Prize at the New York Asian American Int’l Film Festival, 2014.
TRAILER
