Taiwan’s first female aboriginal director Laha Mebow is presenting her upcoming feature “The Skull Oracle,” a dark intergenerational story about women of the Tayal indigenous people, at Busan’s Asian Project Market.
Tracing the history of a Tayal shaman family, the project explores how untold ancestral memories resonate into modern times by combining tribal legend, fantasy and romance. The inspiration comes from Mebow’s grandmother, whose name, Laha, is carried within her family.
“I discovered that I come from a family of shamans, yet shamanism has become a taboo in our villages. With this film, I want to reclaim that spiritual dimension we have lost,” Mebow tells Variety.
“The Skull Oracle” follows the dreams of Zhen, a female surgeon who sees herself crossing a mythic bridge formed by Halus, the Tayal titan with an enormous phallus, and encountering her great-grandmother, Sayan, a powerful shaman who suffered false accusation during the Japanese colonial era. Following Sayan’s path, Zhen travels to Japan to find out the truth and accepts her spiritual legacy.
Mebow’s previous work “Gaga,” also a family story, won her best director at the Golden Horse Awards.
“For me, awards don’t change my original intention as a filmmaker,” says Mebow. With “The Skull Oracle,” she wants to challenge herself by portraying spiritual power through dreams as it is a part of indigenous traditional abilities.
The film’s producer, Eric Liang, who worked on Mebow’s “Finding Sayun” and “Gaga,” believes that Mebow has the potential to become a model of cultural diversity and an irreplaceable voice for Taiwanese indigenous culture.
“Throughout her career, Laha has used her gentle yet resolute cinematic gaze to portray indigenous culture and women’s stories with subtlety and depth,” says Liang. “We are confident that ‘The Skull Oracle’ will discover a new path within the fantasy genre and deliver a refreshing and moving experience to audiences everywhere.”
At the APM, Liang aims to find international producers and distributors who truly understand and are willing to support Taiwan’s indigenous culture.
“Ultimately, our vision is to build an international team that combines commercial value with cultural depth, allowing ‘The Skull Oracle’ to shine in the global market,” says Liang.
