Taiwan Formosa 3D

Client: Panadol GSK

Agency: Hogarth Singapore

Production Co: Mooi
Director/Dp: Shaun Pettigrew and Alex Sow
A short film about people who go to great pains for others. Photographer and Film Director Charlie Chu, Taiwan’s leading 3D film director has spent a decade painstakingly capturing the island’s beauty. Charlie is one of the pioneering 3D stereoscopic film directors in Taiwan. In 2002, his health took a turn for the worse when the doctor found a large, fist-sized tumour in his brain. He endured a 28-hour-long surgery to remove the tumour and emerged from the ordeal with hearing loss in his left ear. His experience with brain cancer reminded him of the transience of life, and after the surgery, Charlie decided to bring forward his plans to conduct a movie tour in rural elementary schools, a dream that was initially planned for his retirement. The idea came to him after he won the 3D Creative Arts Awards in Hollywood when he started contemplating how he could use 3D movies to help others. He decided that he wanted to educate Taiwanese children from rural areas on the beauty of Taiwan. He sold his house and invested TWD 3 million to build Taiwan’s first-ever 3D movie tour minivan and a further TWD 700 million for tour operations. In 2014, he and his wife kicked off the tour and since then it has reached over 1000 schools and over 100 underprivileged institutions. The movies shown are intended to educate and promote Taiwan’s rich culture and environment, and Charlie would spend time introducing the movie’s topics so that the children can better understand the movie. However, embarking on this movie tour has its challenges. The tour has been paused from time to time due to pressuring schedule and insufficient funds. Charlie would also suffer from headaches and dizziness from impaired vision. Despite the pain, the smiles on the children’s faces keep him going. Currently, more than 800 schools in rural areas have signed up to see the movie, which will take more than 3-4 years.