In Search of Rice Huller

A rice huller is used for rice hulling, its history can be traced from thousands of years ago.
The film begins with the time with no electricity. Back then, “Tu Long” were widely used. Then we visit the wooden rice mills which first appeared when there was electricity. And it ends with the modern rice mills built by technology and capital.
In the film, we’ve been through the life journeys of six people, and seen their pride, hardship, joy and sorrow. What we’ve recorded is the history of the rice hulling industry in Taiwan which is rarely known.

  • Wen-jui Wu
    Director
  • Project Type:
    Documentary
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 19 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    August 28, 2021
  • Production Budget:
    20,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Taiwan
  • Country of Filming:
    Taiwan
  • Language:
    Chinese
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital HD
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Wen-jui Wu

Wu Wen-jui came from Pingtung and graduated from Graduate Institute of Documentary, TNNUA. He is currently an independent filmmaker, focusing on making documentaries to explore the relationships and metaphor between the human beings and the reality. His credits include “Funeral Video”, “Return to County Road 184”, “Just Ignore Me”, etc. He has been awarded by Golden Harvest Awards and Hong Kong Chinese Documentary Festival, and nominated by Taiwan International Documentary Festival, Kaohsiung Film Festival, South Taiwan Film Festival and Thai Short Film and Video Festival.
Filmography
2007 Wien Disk
2010 Just Ignore Me
-10th South Taiwan Film Festival (Taiwan, 2010)
-CNEX Documentary Film Festival (Taiwan, 2011)
2017 Return to County Road 184
2017 Funeral Video
-The 11th Taiwan International Documentary Festival (Taiwan, 2018)
-The 11th Chinese Documentary Festival (Hong Kong, 2018)/ Shorts Champion
-The 22nd Thai Short Film and Video Festival (Thailand, 2018)
-Kaohsiung Film Festival (Taiwan, 2018)
-The 41th Golden Harvest Awards(Taiwan, 2019)/ General Award
2019 I & i
-New Narratives Film Festival(Taiwan, 2020)
2020 Sheng Xiang & Band《Preserved Vegetables》MV
- New Hope Film Festival (USA, 2021)

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

Several years ago, I was given a hard disk drive with a film in it about how an old master created his last rotary husker. When I saw the content, I could feel the weight on my shoulders.
Years later, the documentary stemming from the hard disk drive is born, and we’re telling the stories of six people instead of only the old master. And the time spans a hundred years from the Japanese Occupied Period to the 21st century. It is a film about the history of the rice hulling industry in Taiwan.
Hopefully, we haven’t let those people involved in the industry down.