謝鎮逸 Seah Jenn Yi

此時彼地：資訊年代的焦慮共享

文／謝鎮逸（國立台南藝術大學藝術史系）

在片單尚未落定以前，「Anxiety」這個概念是在影展中最早訂定的主軸。

收到邀請參與策劃影展的當時，正是台灣九合一大選與十項公投前夕。那個天氣仍然酷熱的11月，各大網絡平台每天充斥著讀不完的資訊、看不完的真假新聞。如今半年過去了，今日的我們繼承著公投的結果。這段期間的各種吵鬧、紛亂與不安，自此籠罩在所有話題當中；伴隨著各式各樣的價值觀與立場的擦撞，卻又同時嵌入許多真偽莫辨的冷言酸語。

回想落腳台灣的這幾年，無法否認當初離開馬來西亞就是種逃避主義。對家國有著極度的憤概，那是你曾經孤注一擲的冀望最終被抽空；是一場停電的鬧劇徹底擊垮了你的滿腔激情、粉碎了你那麼多次參與抗議遊行所積累的歩程數。

來到台灣，等同自己已然從激昂奮戰的前線，一下退到了人群的最後端。隔著三千多公里，彷彿以前無法理解的事，瞬間都已清楚明白了。那些讀了一半又默默滑走的家鄉新聞、熟悉的領導人肖像被畫成小丑、昔日前領導人（也是今日領導人）臉上的眼淚鼻涕……什麼顏色的黨派組成看起來似乎都一樣——這句話聽起來熟悉嗎？

但在家鄉漸漸被陌生化了以後，在寶島的這一端也沒閒著。曾經嚮往的所謂民主與開放自由的氛圍，今天都變成了無法兌現的空頭支票；曾經稱羨的高等教育，現在三不五時說要併就併、說要拔就拔。新南向呢，就是將台商一批批送出去，再把東南亞學生一批批送進來產學合作。

這次影展聚焦在當代馬來西亞各種維度上的焦慮，但面對這種以國別折射出來的焦慮根本放眼四海皆準。當你透過電影笑看百態，會發現縱使改變不是一朝一夕，但總是經過一次次的潛移默化，讓我們更懂得如何在焦慮的年代中學習自處。如同一直都堅信著，只要持續對改變抱持著信心，環境和社會也會不斷修正它的謬誤。

「你是否不同意我們社會的未來不應不能讓民眾不安身立命的過生活？ 」

Now and There: Shared Anxiety in the Information Age

/ Seah Jenn Yi (Department of Art History, Tainan National University of the Arts)

/ translated by Show Ying Xin

“Anxiety”, the theme of this film festival, was proposed even before we finalized the list of films.

That day I received the invitation to join the curatorial team of this film festival, it was one day before Taiwan’s local election and the multi-question referendum. The hot November was glutted with inexhaustible information and news, true or fake, in various online platforms. Half a year has passed, and we are now living with the results of the referendum. During this period, all kinds of chaos, disagreements, and feelings of uneasiness are embedded in every conversation, followed by disputes in values and positions and also sarcastic languages that one couldn’t tell whether they are facts or fiction.

Recalling my days of living in Taiwan, I can’t deny the fact that I left Malaysia because of escapism. I was extremely angry with the home country, as the only balloon of hope that one desperately holds on to had burst. It was the farce of a blackout that destroyed one’s passion accumulated all these long from the street protests that one had walked on.

Coming to Taiwan, that decision indicates that I have retreated from the struggles in the frontline, and have arrived at the rearmost of the crowd. A distance of 3000 km seems to help me understand many things that I couldn’t comprehend before. The news from home that I left half-read, the familiar face of the leader being drawn as a clown, the tears in the eyes of the former leader (who is now the current leader) … Parties of any colours seem to look like the same – does this sound familiar?

As the hometown has been gradually defamiliarized, things at this end in Taiwan have never been busier. The so-called atmosphere of democracy, freedom, and openness that many have longed for has turned into an empty promise. The performance in higher education that once earned praises is now witnessing its own decline as more institutions are either forced to be merged with others or closed down. What about the new southbound policy then? It is a project that sends batches of Taiwanese entrepreneurs to Southeast Asia, and, on the other way round, brings batches of students from the region to conduct industry-university cooperation here.

This film festival focuses on the feeling of anxiety in contemporary Malaysia in various aspects, but, in fact, anxiety itself is universal. When you laugh at the scenes in the selected movies, you might discover that a change cannot be accomplished overnight; yet it is through gradual, subtle progress that one would learn to survive in the age of anxiety. I always believe that as long as one continues to have confidence in change, the environment and the society will follow.

“Do you not agree that the future of our society should not be unable to disallow the people to settle down in peace?”