The Return of Gods and Ancestors Paiwan Five Year Ceremony

The Return of Gods and Ancestors is the first locally made ethnographic film in Taiwan The film captured with a handcranked Bell Howell 16 mm camera documents the most magnificent fiveyear ceremony in Paiwan tribe During the festival the Paiwan people expect to receive blessings of the gods and ancestors by piercing rattan balls with extended bamboo poles however they also try to prevent any harm caused by evil spirits The Paiwan five year ceremony is not only the reunion of the dead and the living but a meeting of the old and the new