A new documentary, "Revisiting 921," follows award-winning Canadian photojournalist David Smith as he attempts to track down people he photographed 25 years ago in the aftermath of Taiwan's deadliest earthquake.
The full documentary can be watched here: https://www.taiwanplus.com/shows/culture/revisiting-921/240918015/revisiting-921-remembering-taiwans-deadliest-earthquake-full-documentary
The full documentary can be watched here: https://www.taiwanplus.com/shows/culture/revisiting-921/240918015/revisiting-921-remembering-taiwans-deadliest-earthquake-full-documentary
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NewsTranscript
00:00My editor called me from the paper and told me about a hotel building they heard collapsed
00:10in the Songshan area, and they were rescuing people in and out.
00:13And I noticed one, there was one lady and the firefighter, he put his coat over her
00:19to keep her warm and maybe to be more modest because she had like nightclothes on, I think.
00:25And I pressed the button right then.
00:29A new documentary on the devastating 7.3 magnitude earthquake that struck Taiwan on
00:34September 21st, 1999 has been released for the 25th anniversary of the disaster.
00:41A special screening of the film was hosted by the Canadian Trade Office in Taipei.
00:45It follows the experience of Canadian photojournalist David Spitt, who captured some of the most
00:51enduring photos of the earthquake and its aftermath.
00:54The quake, referred to as the 9-2-1 or Gigi quake, killed close to two and a half thousand
01:00people and destroyed 50,000 homes.
01:03Smith says his commemoration project holds special significance for him.
01:08It's been on my mind.
01:09That's the most, biggest news event I've ever covered was the 9-2-1.
01:14And it affected me a lot, just covering it emotionally.
01:19Might be kind of cool to try and find people in the pictures.
01:22And I thought that was crazy.
01:24That was definitely mission impossible.
01:26I look at the photos, there was an earthquake baby, there's a rescue worker, there's a firefighter.
01:33No, it's not possible to find people from the photos that someone took 25 years ago.
01:40It's not possible.
01:41I mean, people change.
01:42I think the reason that I really wanted to make it happen was, you know, unlike typhoons,
01:50earthquakes are not predictable.
01:52It could happen just one minute, it could happen now.
01:55One of the people in Smith's photos, a newborn baby, delivered just days before the quake
02:01in a remote indigenous community, was particularly difficult to track down.
02:06Director Roger Chung remembers the moment he realized he had found her.
02:11I just got goosebumps.
02:13I just got goosebumps when the village chief said, no, I know this mother.
02:19She's Ms. Huang.
02:20I was like, really?
02:21Yeah.
02:22I was sent to her line message between him, myself, and the mom, and I sent out a photo
02:30and said, yeah, that's me and my daughter.
02:33The filmmakers were able to track down all three of the people from the photos.
02:38While Smith says the experience of photographing 9-2-1 was pivotal for his career, even leading
02:43to international photography awards, he says it took an emotional toll.
02:49Doing the earthquake stuff, oh, you feel like a ghoul.
02:52I mean, when I was at Taichung, they had containers that were refrigerated, and it was just stacked
02:58full of bodies.
02:59You know, little kids' pictures, decorating them with toys and stuff, and then incense.
03:04It's just like, ugh.
03:06You can't look into people's eyes without seeing the hurt.
03:13Unless you're soulless, you're going to feel something.
03:16But the filmmakers say they were glad to be able to document a key moment in Taiwan's
03:20history, and that lessons were learned from the tragedy.
03:24I'm really happy about it, and hopefully it's a piece of Taiwan history and people will
03:30remember it.
03:31And I'm kind of proud to do that, to be part of Taiwan history, or to record part of it,
03:36I mean.
03:37Revisiting 9-2-1, now available to view on Taiwan Plus, comes almost six months after
03:43another major earthquake in April.
03:45It offers a reminder of how far the nation has come since that defining tragedy 25 years
03:51ago.
03:52Kama Xu, Peachy Chuang, and Chris Gorin for Taiwan Plus.