NOWNESS | The Filial Daughter
Description :
The Filial Daughter
In Taiwan, professional funeral mourners perform a string of rituals to facilitate a soul’s peaceful journey into the afterlife
Professional mourning is a time-honoured tradition that is slowly dying out in Taiwan. As little as 20 years ago, there were hundreds of mourners working at funerals that lasted for over 30 days. Today, this number is drastically lower, reflected by the fact that services rarely last beyond a fortnight.
Liu Jun-Lin is currently the youngest and one of the best-known professional mourners still working in Taiwan. _The Filial Daughter _by Lu Xiao-Wei captures her and her band's pre-funeral rituals and elaborate performances, which include acrobatic dance manoeuvres, sombre songs, theatrical elements and detailed choreography. The event is steeped in folkloric tradition yet wholly modern, featuring maximal lighting and pumped up PA systems.
“Professional mourners are often looked down upon, despite their role in seeing loved ones into the afterlife”
Perceived as a lower class occupation and often associated with the criminal underworld, professional mourners are often looked down upon, despite their role in seeing loved ones into the afterlife. The Filial Daughter asks whether an economy built on emotional transactions can survive Taiwan's march into modernity, and shines a light on the adversity faced by Liu Jun-Lin as one of the country’s last professional mourners.
“Apart from gender prejudice," says Xiao-Wei, "stigmas around death make many people look down on the women who work as professional mourners. The lack of understanding about the significance of traditional rituals is definitely one of the main factors for the decline of the professional mourning culture, due to the modernisation experienced by Taiwanese society, people tend to go for simpler, Westernised funerals."
“It's the filial daughters' mission to bring the bereaved together”
Despite this, the filial daughters Xiao-Wei encountered during the making of the documentary "hold the profession with pride and a real sense of purpose." Traditionally, professional mourning is family business - Liu was mentored by her grandmother and started her training from an early age, she then started performing at funerals from the age of twelve when her mother, who was also a professional mourner, passed away. "To the filial daughters, it's about keeping the rituals alive and carrying on the family tradition," Xiao-Wei explains. "And more importantly, it's the filial daughters' mission to bring the bereaved together and help them express their emotions and connect with their loved ones through their rituals and performances."
Festivals :
Credits :
Directed & Produced by - Lu Xiao Wei
Cinematography by - Lu Xiao Wei
1st AC: Da Mu
2nd AC: Chen Yun-Ru
Composer - Model Man
Sound Designer - Morgan Williams
Colourist - Tim Martin
Post Production Company: Creep
Graphic Designer - Seth De Silva
Featuring - Liu Jun- Lin, Liu Wen-Ji, Tang Ya-Ting, Xu Xiao-Ci, Liu Ting-Ru