The Catch

Each winter the Kuroshio carries eel fry from the Philippines towards Taiwan, and eel catchers from all over the country gather at the mouth of the Lanyang River in Yilan for a perilous and gruelling season’s work.

The film follows them closely: the daily risk of their lives against heavy seas, and, once ashore, the provocations and threats of local gangs. Through the tents they pitch, the makeshift huts they live in and the life they share, it draws a moving picture of people thrown together by chance who build genuine bonds in a harsh environment, and reflects the toughness and warmth of Taiwan’s coastal workers.