“My Eyes Are My Voice”, says the protagonist in CABBAGE, not only summarizing his specific way of communicating, but also defining the convoluted thread of this short film program: We observe a woman video-monitoring herself, see a tribute to Taiwanese karaoke culture in which text becomes voice, listen to an entertaining archive of old answering machine messages that encourage us to perform our own images, and finally encounter the words that give the program its name and that were created by the protagonist on the monitor. (Theresa George)
A woman monitors herself in empty rooms. She produces evidence: on her apartment, her work, German lovers, pieces of furniture, the imagination, the Internet, her everyday life and CCTV. The video files of this film are stored on the servers of the surveillance camera system with which they were shot.… >>>
The director's summer memoir. His personal dreamy short offers an original insight into the Taiwanese karaoke culture, which has been making locals happy for generations. The viewer has the opportunity to feel the atmosphere of Jiantan Mountain, where the ancient meets the mundane, the natural meets the civilized, and where karaoke is as normal as the blowing of the wind, the sleeping Buddha or the singing of cicadas. The film as a simple ephemeral impression of Taiwanese poetics and rituals in the context of China's inherent threat.… >>>
Found answering machine recordings bring voices longing for a receiver into the realm of the theater, offering hope for connection through a collective experience.… >>>
An intimate film made in collaboration with the filmmaker’s family, CABBAGE reframes language, illuminating relationships of care at its center. Bureaucratic violence, which can appear as gentle and bland, is contrasted with lived experience: the film centralizes the filmmaker’s brother’s writing (who is non-verbal and non-mobile) using eye tracking technology, and her mother’s reflections to explore layers of power, and how to reclaim it within an ableist paradigm.… >>>