Private Project

If There is a Reason to Study

RenWen is a young Taiwan alternative junior high school where test scores and rankings didn’t exist. Students in this school were encouraged to explore their callings free from the presumption of career hierarchy and the need to excel in tests. However, in able to access to high school and further education, the first graduates of RenWen inevitably faced a standardized admission test, the BCT, which will distribute them to different schools and tracks based on their scores. Will the RenWen students be changed by this testing system?
Directed by 14-year-old Taiwanese student Adler Yang, If There is a Reason to Study is a five-year (and yet to be continued) examination on a test-driven education’s impact on students

  • Adler Yang
    Director
  • Adler Yang
    Producer
  • Adler Yang
    Key Cast
  • Li-Ann Chen
    Key Cast
  • Yu-Xuan Lin
    Key Cast
  • Pei-Lin Tsai
    Key Cast
  • Xing-Hao Gong
    Key Cast
  • Min-Chieh Shi
    Music
    Moonlight in Jilin, Year of the Rain
  • Adler Yang
    Editors
  • Tzu-Yin Wu
    Editors
    Year of the Rain
  • Jia-Hsien Zhao
    Editors
  • Huan-Zho Zheng
    Animators
  • Yuan-Chiu Wu
    Animators
  • Henry Chiu
    Animators
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    學習的理由
  • Project Type:
    Animation, Documentary, Feature
  • Genres:
    Education, Coming of Age, Youth, Asian, Social Issues, Taiwan
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 39 minutes 26 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    May 31, 2015
  • Production Budget:
    30,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Taiwan
  • Country of Filming:
    Taiwan
  • Language:
    Chinese
  • Shooting Format:
    HD,DV
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    Yes
  • Kaohsiung Education Film Festival
    Kaohsiung
    March 26, 2014
    Pre-Release (Rough Cut)
    Opening Film
  • Sheffield Doc/Fest
    Sheffield, England, United Kingdom
    Pre-Release (Rough Cut)
    Official Selection of Videotheque
  • Hong Kong Chinese Documentary Film Festival
    Hong Kong
    September 17, 2014
    Pre-Release (Rough Cut)
    Second Runner-Up, Features
  • International Movie Awards
    Jakarta, Indonesia
    Pre-Release (Rough Cut)
    Gold Award, Newcomer Documentary Films
  • South Taiwan Film Festival
    Tainan, Taiwan
    November 8, 2014
    Pre-Release (Rough Cut)
    Official Selection, Best Documentary & Human Rights Films
  • Shenzhen Fringe Film Festival
    Shenzhen, China
    December 17, 2014
    Pre-Release (Rough Cut)
    Special Invitation
  • Taiwan Teenager Film Festival
    Taipei, Taiwan
    February 5, 2015
    Pre-Release (Rough Cut)
    Opening Film
Director Biography - Adler Yang

Adler Yang is a young changemaker who devotes his entire adolescence to make a difference in education by means such as filmmaking, writing, journalism, workshop design and facilitation, and entrepreneurship, eager to create a new society where all people can find their sparks, live their sparks, and spark the world. He is the founder of Awakening magazine--a self-changing handbook designed for the young people in Asia, the judge of 2011 Design for Change Taiwan Challenge, and had spoken at several educational events such as the 2014 TEDxTaipei Salon.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

The right to make decisions is privileged to those who prevail, which makes them more powerful to seize resources. And those who can’t cope with the competition could only go on the leftover paths, having limited or even no right to challenge the status quo.
Following this game, we sacrificed exploration for more choices. But now the choices are laid open, do we know what to choose?
What is education for? To bring children hope, or to limit their possibilities?