The documentary A Year In the Clouds was produced by Taiwan Public Television. Filming took a year and was premiered in 2011. Qalang Smangus is an indigenous tribe located at an altitude of 1,500 meters above sea level in Jianshi Township, Hsinchu County, Taiwan. Once known as the "Dark Tribe," this place had no electricity until 1995, when a road was paved, thus connecting it to the world. This is also the only area in Taiwan where the land property is held in common. The mountain's 100 residents have only one bank deposit book, and they work together to take care of the forest and land left by their ancestors.

Public Television Service's A Year In the Clouds documents how the members of the tribe built their classroom with their own hands and the changes of nature's seasons in the mountains. The documentary shows us the true life of the people who live in this deep mountain tribe as well as the luxuriant ecology of the ancient forest. The film shows the planting of millet seeds under the blossoming cherry trees and the Ryax Smqas Hnuway Utux Kaya, or "Thanksgiving Festival," with the harvest of millet.

Public Television Service Online │ A Year In the Clouds

Complete introduction to A Year In the Clouds

The Foundation supports the uniqueness of the film's subject and its response to the universal values of caring for ecological sustainability on a global scale. The Foundation believes the film is worth being promoted to the world to tell Taiwan's unique story.