The Red Rain on the Equator
MALAYSIA, TAIWAN / 2010 / Chinese / Color / Blu-ray (SD) / 132 min
Director: Nova Goh
Photography: Nova Goh, Alfie Chen
Music: Jerry Su
Producer: Alfie Chen
Source: Nova Goh
The director learned of both his family’s past and the revolutionary movement in his hometown of Borneo when he received a letter from his mother. The film reveals the forgotten history of the Malaysian independence movement and unearths the story of the former guerrilla fighters who threw their entire being into the subsequent revolution. While the revolutionaries now lead ordinary lives, their youth is brought back to us through private footage recorded of their training and life in the mountains. Using the historical stage of the invasion as a backdrop, the film explores that Chinese identity which lives just beneath the equator.
[Director’s Statement] I think I am a collector rather than a film director. Instead of collecting things, I collect stories, especially from those communists who appear in front of my camera—how great they are! They had a strong faith in turbulent times, they believed in a beautiful dream without any doubt, all through a revolution that lasted for half a century. Even though they failed, something beautiful was left behind in the flow of time. When they are walking on the street, they look no different from any ordinary people, but when you look into their eyes—it’s different, there’s something you can never take away from them; they experienced a thrill whose preciousness exceeds any other human being’s experience.
The “wonderful world” never comes true at the end of any revolution, but wonderful things happened during all revolutions, and wonderful memories are kept after all revolutions—as long as the people still believe in revolution.
Nova Goh
Born and bred in Borneo, where the land is full of wonderful and exotic culture—the land of the hornbill. Went to Taiwan in 1999 to study Visual Communication at National Taiwan University of Arts. During his stay in Taiwan as a foreign student, he was influenced by the promising growth of the indie-movie scene and started to become involved in various short-film-making projects. In 2008, he went back to Borneo to begin The Red Rain on the Equator, his first feature-length documentary. |
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