Film Festival Raises Awareness of the Plight of Migrant Workers

A R O U N D T O W N 發光的城市 15 TAIPEI TIMES • FRIDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2008

asmine lives in a room crowded together young Thai girl deported from Australia after with a dozen other teenagers in a she was caught working in a brothel. On the J concrete building that lacks running Film festival raises awareness way he meets the parents of another sex slave water. She works seven days a week from whose death at a Sydney immigration facility 8am until 2am removing lint from denim caused outrage in Australia. jeans. She earns US$1 a day. Looking on the bright side, Meeta Vasisht’s race yourselves for an Jasmine, one of the estimated 130 million of the plight of migrant workers Summer Moon shows how victims of human Bapproaching typhoon: members of China’s so-called floating trafficking can recover and go on to lead a musical one. Next population, is the central character in fulfilling lives. Vasisht films a group of former Thursday at The Wall, director Micha X. Peled’s 88-minute China sex workers who use their experiences to stage Steve Aoki, also known as Blue, a documentary about migrant labor in humorous dramas aimed at shaming customers Kid Millionaire, hits town China. The film is one of five documentaries in the human marketplaces of India and Nepal. at full strength. being shown as part of the 2008 Anti-Human And since no film festival raising awareness Aoki lives in Los Trafficking Film Festival organized by the of a social issue would be complete without Angeles and is, at the Garden of Hope Foundation (勵馨基金會) to famous people showing how much they care, tender age of 30, shed light on the issue of human trafficking. there’s Traffic: An MTV EXIT Special, which in the enviable The films will be screened in four cities enlists well-known celebrities such as Karen position of throughout Taiwan beginning today and Mok (莫文蔚), who narrates a story about owning his running until the end of October. the “trafficking chain” that follows a woman own indie- It’s a sad fact that many migrant workers trafficked from the Philippines and forced into music label, in Taiwan face conditions similar to those of prostitution, a trafficker who forces women Dim Mak their counterparts in China, a phenomenon into prostitution, and a woman who runs a Records, documented in Olwen Bedford’s Working for a shelter for migrants. the outfit Better Future. The 24-minute film uses the lives The 2008 Anti-Human Trafficking Film that broke of two Vietnamese workers to illustrate many Festival Taipei screenings are tonight at 7pm Bloc Party of the hardships — forced debt, harsh working and tomorrow and Sunday at 2pm at the Shin and which conditions, low wages — that thousands of Kong Cineplex (新光影城), 4F and 5F, 36 Xining currently Steve Aoki: Looking forward to some migrant workers endure in Taiwan. S Rd, Taipei City (台北市西寧南路36號4-5樓); has house crowd-surfing. Photo courtesy of www.steveaoki.com Luigi Acquisto takes the viewer on a journey screenings are also scheduled for Taichung music from the streets of Sydney to Thailand’s sex (Oct. 14 to Oct. 16), Kaohsiung (Oct. 21 to Oct. monsters industry in Trafficked. Acquisto follows former 23) and Taitung (Oct. 24). Admission for all MSTRKRFT, Klaxons and Mystery Jets on its list. police officer Chris Payne, who travels to A still from China Blue, a documentary that uses the story of a teenage girl to�� illustrate the p�light�� of migrant screenings is free. On the Net: www.goh.org. He’s honed a reputation for throwing down Thailand to solve the mystery of “Nikki,” a workers in China. Photo courtesy of the Garden of Hope Foundation tw/AntiHumanTrafficking. — Noah Buchan sick electro-thrash-rock sets with wild abandon and has pulled of feats such as ripping off his T-shirt with headphones on while in the middle of a mix. Olivia Wycech, an acquaintance of Aoki RESTAURANTS and new girl to the Taipei scene had this to say about the DJ’s sets: “His eyes never leave the dance floor, unless it’s to climb the highest speaker and crowd-surf his way into his own Jiau’s (嬌食) I Know Pasta dancing shoes on the floor …” Address: 22, Fuxing S Rd Sec 1, Taipei City Address: 121-2, Bade Road Sec 3, Taipei City At the beginning of the year Aoki released (台北市復興南路一段22號) (台北市八德路三段121-2號) his first mix CD, Pillowface and His Airplane Telephone: (02) 2711-4400 Telephone: (02) 2577-3967 Chronicles, to critical acclaim using the work Average meal: NT$1,000 for two with drinks Open: Daily from 11am to 9pm of many of the artists on Dim Mak Records as Open: Daily from 11:30am to 2:30pm and Average meal: NT$70 to NT$160 base tracks. It is a stunning merging of genres 5:30pm to 10pm Details: Chinese and English menu from thrash metal to indie-rock to hip-hop Details: Chinese menu; credit cards accepted overlaid on already remixed electro tunes Taiwan has great noodles everywhere you from the likes of Justice, MSTRKRFT and When French bon vivants start skimping on look: fat noodles, thin noodles, rice noodles, Erol Alkan. leisurely lunches, and bars and restaurants beef noodles — even cold noodles. But for Aoki doesn’t just remix the remixes: he in the land of haute cuisine start going those with more Western tastes, a good pasta has employed a bunch of his friends such as belly-up at a rate that alarms industry can set you back at least a couple hundred Mickey Avalon to drop vocals on top. observers, the times ahead for fancy NT dollars more than a your average bowl of Also playing with Aoki is hot female eateries seem bleak. Stewed lion’s head meatball with avocado and cream: noodles. Even then, the offerings are largely The smoked salmon pasta with cream sauce is a gourmand’s rapper Anna-Catherine Hartley, also known Establishments like Jiau’s, which was sacrilegious to some, manna to others. touch and go. Not so at the aptly named I delight on a spendthrift budget. Photo: Alita Rickards as Uffie, who is signed to top French indie- first reviewed here in March and serves Photo: Steve price, Taipei times Know Pasta. It is an entirely Taiwanese-run electro label Ed Banger. Born in the US but what can be best described as Taiwanese and staffed establishment, but as they claim, now residing in Paris, Uffie, 20, will provide nouveau cuisine, or, according to critics a noteworthy departure from the usual they do know pasta. Takeout dishes come in standard white boxes the live vocals in her mellifluous laid back engaged in a fierce foodie debate in the treatment of the vegetable. After biting They have only recently made an English with a plastic spoon and chopsticks. They also hip-hop style. blogosphere, over-priced night market fare, through the waxy skin, the initial taste has menu, and this becomes obvious when have a corn soup, and a variety of teas and soft The gig is being thrown by one half of seem to be feeling the pinch. And customers notes of freshly mown grass accompanied you read it: the carbonara is referred to as drinks for NT$15 to NT$35. Taiwanese Tomodachi duo Spykee (小胖). Aoki are taking notice. by the saltiness of the creamy yoke, which spaghetti with bacon and egg milk flavor Though the dine-in areas are fairly cafeteria- will be backed up on the decks by the group’s One of the more interesting complaints: morph into musty fermented tones, followed (cheese), and the pesto is called spaghetti style in terms of layout, with a high turnover, other half, F Dragon (水果龍). the seats at Jiau’��s�� long table situated in the by a bitter finale. with pine nut green sauce. Don’t let this the staff is friendly and the place is clean and “This time I’m throwing the party in the center of the restaurant are squashed to the Though the dish of salty clams, dissuade you, however. The carbonara is brightly lit. Part of the charm is ordering at the name of Dance Rock Taipei, which is also point that women wearing short skirts can’t whimsically named “captain’s gone crazy” made with back bacon and full cream, and main counter, over which you can see eight the first event of Dance Rock Taipei. I hope cross their legs while dining. (船長的失常, NT$100), was a little heavy on the pesto rivals any I have had. The cheapest to 12 staff in an assembly line whipping up to make DRTP a new model of indie dance in But the prices, which came in for the the black vinegar, the mollusks’ flesh filled dish on the menu, at NT$70, is the standard your order. The cashier yells to the main chef, Taipei, so I thought Steve Aoki and Uffie, the most flak, have been reduced. The�� rice one half of each shell and was plump and Bolognese, which has a rich ground pork and who grabs a large frying pan and throws in super big hits right now, would be the perfect topped with stewed meat (�滷肉飯), for juicy, far larger than the tiny smidgens of tomato sauce. meats, vegetables, stock, and begins tossing artists to bring in, instead of the outdated cast example, has dropped from NT$120 to NT$50. flesh typically found in other versions of this The most expensive pasta is the smoked everything together. If it’s a cream dish he will that big clubs would prefer,” Spykee said. And innovations to the menu, created by common dish. salmon with cream sauce at NT$160. The grab a carton of full cream and add it at the last Steve Aoki and Uffie play The Wall 這牆( ), proprietor Zhuang Yue-jiau (莊月嬌), who Zhuang’s piece de resistance remains serving of salmon is so generous it’s hard minute. Pre-cooked pasta (standard in even B1, 200, Roosevelt Road Sec 4, Taipei City (北 could charitably be compared to England’s Shihfang (食方, www.cestbon.com.tw), an to imagine that one could make this dish at high-end restaurants) is added last, and the 市羅斯福路四段200號B1) on Thursday. The show Heston Blumenthal or Spain’s Ferran Adria avant-garde restaurant on Zhongshan North home for that price. The cream sauce has a dish moves on to the platers or the packers. begins at 11pm. Tickets are NT$1,000 at the Acosta, are adventurous. Road (中山北路) she created with her partner, hint of tomato, giving it a slightly sweet tang The dishwasher takes the pan and the next door with a drink. The stewed lion’s head meatball (台北獅子 photographer Hsieh Chun-te (謝春德). Since that goes well with the fish. order begins. Advance tickets also cost NT$1,000, and 頭,�� NT$180) epitomizes all that’s right with a meal there on Jan. 26, 2005, it is this Again, they know what they are doing: When they are really busy, four or more can be purchased from the following locations Jiau’s. Exquisitely presented — you could reviewer’s favorite take on contemporary when you get the salmon pasta as takeout, chefs will be working at once, and their flying in Taipei City: M@M Boutique, 4F-3, 112, imagine the wait staff agonizing over the Taiwanese fare. they pack the fish separately from the hands and obvious expertise is a pleasure to Zhongxiao E Rd Sec 4 (台北市忠孝東路四段112號 placing of the esoterically arranged drops Though Jiau’s, which caters for a less steaming dish so that it doesn’t overcook the watch. As a fan of cream sauce, I prefer to get 4F-3), tel: (02) 8771-5688; NEU Store, 17, Ln of avocado sauce in the slightly sweet gravy aesthete crowd, may not be the best credit delicate salmon — a small detail that really takeout — the 10 minutes it takes me to get 177, Dunhua S Rd Sec 1 (台北市敦化南路一段177巷 that accompanies the solitary meatball crunch Taiwanese lunch in town, with enhances the flavor. home allows the sauce to thicken and cool 17號), tel: (02) 8771-8170; Species Records, 2F, — the medley of flavors and textures, which new prices and additions to the menu it Around 7pm there is usually a line at the down a bit. 20, Ln 96, Kunming Street (台北市昆明街96巷20號 included a cream-based layer, challenge compares favorably with Shihfang. front counter where you order, but again, don’t Pour it onto a plate, arrange the salmon 2F), tel: (02) 2375-5518. preconceived notions of how the traditional A red stamp next to an item on Jiau’s be put off, as the staff whips up orders at an slices on the top, and dig in. It is the best On the Net: www.the-wall.com.tw, dish should be prepared. menu indicates Zhang’s recommendations, amazing pace. There are three areas for dining pasta you’ll find, not because of the budget www.myspace.com/steveaoki, www.myspace. Bitter gourd with salty egg yoke and some of which are transplants from Shihfang. in, with the dishes served on large white plates prices, but in spite of them. com/uffie. shaved fried scallops (冰脆苦瓜, NT$80) is — Steve Price with proper cutlery (a fork and tablespoon). — Alita Rickards — Tom Leeming

[ EVENTS & ENTERTAINMENT ]

The Urban Nomad Film Program featuring Japanese singer Kiyoharu 言). All-female alt-rock quartet Cherry 空間), 15-2, Ln 11, Zhongshan N Rd Sec on a piece of paper or on successive at the 2008 Taipei Biennial, which (清春) is already sold-out. Tomorrow Boom (櫻桃幫) plays tomorrow night, 2, Taipei City (台北市中山北路二段11巷 sheets of paper. Pencil Walker shows runs until Oct 18, continues tomorrow night features metal bands EFTC, followed by pop singer Van Fan (范逸 15-2號). Open Wednesdays through the artist pacing back and forth in front night with Filipino Activist Shorts Desecration, Nevermore and 臣), who starred in the Taiwanese box Highlight Sundays from 1pm to 8pm. Tel: (02) of a white wall while drawing lines on 2005-2008, a set of short films on Hekate. On Wednesday it’s drum- office hitCape No. 7. This year, the annual Sun Moon 2561-1548 the wall and chanting texts from the social issues in the Philippines. Also and-keyboard outfitAlice the Band. B1, 2, Ln 244, Roosevelt Rd Sec 3, Lake Festival will take a new form From tomorrow to Oct. 26 Avatamsaka Sutra. Each session lasts screening is Tribu, a film about gang On Thursday the venue presents Taipei City (台北市羅斯福路三段244巷 and include a wide variety of musical two hours and 15 minutes. The artist has wars in a Manila slum. The actors in acclaimed DJ Steve Aoki from the US, 2號B1), next to Taipower Building (台電 activities, including classical music Eclipse, Universe — Joint so far completed 50 sessions over the the film are real teenage gangsters and Uffie from France. 大樓). Call (02) 2368-7310 or visit www. concerts, drumming, Aboriginal Exhibition of Young Surrealist course of more than a dozen years. who “model themselves on US hip- B1, 200, Roosevelt Rd Sec 4, Taipei riverside.com.tw for more information dance and large-scale contemporary Artists (蝕‧宇宙—超現實新銳藝術 National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts hop stars and view freestyle rapping City (台北市羅斯福路四段200號B1). Call Shows start at 9:30pm tonight and musicals. These performances, under Make merry at Sun Moon Lake. 家創作展). The exhibition features oil (國立台灣美術館), 2, Wuchuan W Rd 台中市五權西路一 as a way of life,” and create a truce (02) 2930-0162 or log on at www.the- 9pm tomorrow; 5pm and 9pm on the title of “Autumn Music — Drums Courtesy of Sun Moon Lake National Scenic Area Administration paintings by three up-and-coming Sec 1, Taichung City ( between their rival gangs. wall.com.tw for more information Sunday and Dance” will take place over three artists in Taiwan who are known for 段2號). Open Tuesdays through Taipei Brewery (台北啤酒文化園區), 8pm tomorrow and Wednesday; NT$400 admission tonight and weeks on the shores of Sun Moon tomorrow at the Chunghsing their surrealistic portraits of the island’s Sundays from 9am to 5pm. Tel: (04) also known as the Taipei Beer Factory, 11pm on Thursday tomorrow includes one drink. Lake, starting today. In conjunction Parking Lot (中興停車場) in Shuishe natural landscapes. 2372-3552 85, Bade Rd Sec 2, Taipei City (台北市八 NT$350 tomorrow, NT$300 on Tomorrow night at VU Live House with these performances, there will (水社). The food festival that makes Cathay United Art Center (國泰世華藝 Until Oct. 19 德路二段85號) Wednesday, NT$1,000 on Thursday Tranquility Bass presents the also be activities related to locally up part of this event should not be 術中心), 7F, 236 Dunhua N Rd, Taipei Tomorrow at 7:30pm Dubstep Sessions with Drunk Monk produced ceramics, handicrafts and missed, as many of the area’s lake City (台北市敦化北路236號7樓). Open Art of Kaohsiung 2008: Official No admission fee Kasilaw (鹹豬肉狩獵隊), an Amis folk from Shanghai, Wax Apple D from agricultural produce. Visitors will also fish will be featured, as well as local Mondays through Saturdays from Exhibition During the Japanese group from Hualien, plays tonight the US and DJ Shorty. be able to rent bicycles from a huge specialties such as mushrooms and 10am to 6pm. Tel: (02) 2717-0988 Colonial Period (美術高雄2008—日 Dafu Jazz Quartet takes to the at Witch House (女巫店). Hakka B1, 77 Wuchang St Sec 2, Taipei City new rental facility at the lake. The the Assam Tea banquet. A complete From tomorrow to Nov. 1 治時代競賽篇). Starting in 1927, the stage tonight at Sappho de Base, singer-songwriter Hsieh Yu-wei (謝 (台北市武昌街二段77號B1). Call (02) festival will open with performances program of events can be found at Taiwan Art Exhibition (Taiten), later�� Taipei’s favorite late-night venue for 宇威) appears tomorrow night, while 2314-1868 by the Ten Drum Arts Percussion www.sunmoonlake.gov.tw/events/ Dancing — Steven Liang Solo renamed the Taiwan Governor- impromptu jazz sessions. Appearing Thursday features Brother Fifth (搖 Starts at 10pm tomorrow Group (十鼓擊樂團) tonight and sub02.html (Chinese only). Exhibition (舞動—梁志偉個展). General’s Art Exhibition (Futen),�� was tomorrow night is Black Mirror. 滾點唱機五哥), which is composed NT$400 entrance includes two drinks Featuring more than 30 works by the held annually, with the exception of On Tuesday night the Grace Jazz of two fingerstyle guitarists and a glass artist, this exhibition shows how a one-year suspension in 1937 during Trio plays a set, with an open jam drummer. Tonight at Tone 56 Live Bar, a new more information 8pm to 11pm every Wednesday Liang combines skills and crafts with the Second Sino-Japanese War. The afterwards, and on Wednesday the 7, Ln 56, Xinsheng S Rd Sec 3, Taipei restaurant near the corner of Fuxing Music shows go from 9:30pm to No admission fee imagination to create lively creatures exhibition lasted for 16 years and played Isaiah Richardson Jazz Trio takes City (台北市新生南路三段56巷7號). For North and Minquan East roads, is the 12:30am tonight and tomorrow; and animals. an important role in forming artistic to the stage. Thursday night features more information, call (02) 2362-5494 Rubber Band, which plays rock, 7:30pm to 9:30pm on Sundays Tittot Glass Museum (璃園水晶博物 trends, one of which was opening local electronica-rock and video duo Gross or visit www.witchhouse.org pop and dance music every Friday. No admission fee 館), 16, Ln 515 Zhongyang N Rd Sec 4, artists to Western styles of painting. Fugue. Performances start at 9:30pm. Tomorrow it’s house band Loaded, Exhibitions Taipei City (台北市中央北路四段515巷 By showcasing the artists’ works and B1, 1, Ln 102, Anhe Rd Sec 1, Taipei Restaurant/bar with queer/feminist which plays everything from “rock Every Wednesday night at the Cosmo- Hide and Seek — Huang Ming- 16號). Open Tuesdays through documents, this exhibition aims to City (台北市安和路一段102巷1號B1). bookstore and large collection of classics to today’s hits.” Every Sunday politan Grill there’s a blues open mic, chin 2008 Exhibition (躲迷藏—黃 Sundays from 9am to 5pm. Tel: (02) introduce visitors to outstanding artists Call (02) 2700-5411 (after 9pm) or visit board games open 11am to midnight features a regular rotation of groups: held by the Blues Society on Taiwan 盟欽2008作品展). Using the idea of 2895-8861 in the early period of Taiwan’s art history. www.sappho102.biz for more Sundays through Wednesdays; 11am this week it’s The Revue Band, playing and hosted by Torch Pratt. All are wel- the labyrinth as a theme, Huang creates Until Oct. 12 Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts information to 1am Thursdays through Saturdays blues, rock and reggae. come to bring their instruments and sit a maze with transparent curtains that (高雄市立美術館), 20 Meishuguan Rd, Performances begin at 10:30pm on NT$300 admission includes one drink 1F, 56, Minquan E Rd Sec 3, Taipei in on guitar, bass or drums. isolates visitors in a space of silence An Account of Pen Walking Serial Gushan Dist, Kaohsiung City. (高雄市鼓 weekends; 10pm on weekdays City (台北市民權東路三段56號1樓), 1F, 218 Changchun Rd, Taipei City (台 so they can start conversing with and Pencil Walker (走鉛筆的人). The 山區美術館路20號). Open Tuesdays No admission fee Jazz combo and venue regulars Delta near the corner of Fuxing North Road 北市長春路218號1樓). Call (02) 2508- themselves and rethink the relationship solo exhibition by Shi Jin-hua (石晉華) through Sundays from 9am to 5pm. on the Main Street takes to the stage (復興北路) and Minquan East Road 0304 or visit www.cosmo.com.tw for between themselves and the world. comprises two works. Pen Walking Serial Tel: (07) 555-0331 Tonight’s show at The Wall (這牆) tonight at Riverside Cafe (河岸留 (民權東路). Call (02) 2517-3869 for more information Shin Leh Yuan Art Space (新樂園藝術 displaces the traces of several pens left Until Nov. 16