# Gaga
**Gaga** (哈勇家) is a 2022 Taiwanese family drama directed by Laha Mebow, the first female indigenous director in Taiwan. Set in an Atayal household in a remote, mountainous part of northeastern Taiwan, it follows three generations of the Hayung family over a single year as they cope with the death of their 80-year-old patriarch, a land dispute, financial problems, an unplanned pregnancy, and an election campaign that strains the family apart.[1](https://pavilion.taicca.tw/portfolio-item/gaga/) • [2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/gaga) • [3](https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3210960/gaga-movie-review-taiwanese-family-drama-golden-horse-best-director-winner-offers-fascinating)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Title / year | *Gaga* (哈勇家), Taiwan, 2022, completed[1](https://pavilion.taicca.tw/portfolio-item/gaga/) |
| Director / writers | Laha Mebow; co-written with Hui-ching Hsieh[1](https://pavilion.taicca.tw/portfolio-item/gaga/) • [4](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt22370990/fullcredits/) |
| Runtime / languages | 111 minutes; Mandarin, English, and Tayal[1](https://pavilion.taicca.tw/portfolio-item/gaga/) • [5](https://www.labocine.com/films/gaga) |
| Genre | Family drama, described by Rotten Tomatoes as comedy-drama[1](https://pavilion.taicca.tw/portfolio-item/gaga/) • [2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/gaga) |
| Principal cast | Wilang Lalin (Pasang), Kagaw Piling (Grandma), Yukan Losing (Enoch), Esther Huang (Yuli), Lin Ting-li (Ali)[1](https://pavilion.taicca.tw/portfolio-item/gaga/) • [4](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt22370990/fullcredits/) |
| Major awards | Golden Horse Awards 2022: Best Director and Best Supporting Actress (Kagaw Piling); Singapore International Film Festival 2022: Best Director[1](https://pavilion.taicca.tw/portfolio-item/gaga/) • [3](https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3210960/gaga-movie-review-taiwanese-family-drama-golden-horse-best-director-winner-offers-fascinating) |
| Production | Sky Films Entertainment; producers Eric Liang, Arthur Chu, and Axiang Leu[1](https://pavilion.taicca.tw/portfolio-item/gaga/) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
The story opens in September, when mist settles over the tribal village and an atmosphere of unease settles over the Hayung household. The family, held in esteem by their community, lives from agriculture and tourism, and their faith mixes gaga belief with Christianity.[1](https://pavilion.taicca.tw/portfolio-item/gaga/) • [5](https://www.labocine.com/films/gaga) The eldest son, Pasang, joins an election campaign against his family's opposition, neglecting his duties at home, where his farmer brother is affected in turn.[6](https://taiwancinema.bamid.gov.tw/ImageData/320/2022/88947/10452.pdf) As the campaign proceeds, the family edges toward collapse, and the village sees snow for the first time in a very long time. With the melting of the snow, new life emerges and the broken family begins to mend.[1](https://pavilion.taicca.tw/portfolio-item/gaga/)
The synopsis positions the Hayung family as an epitome of indigenous families in Taiwan, where the older concept of "a tribe as one big family" is waning.[1](https://pavilion.taicca.tw/portfolio-item/gaga/)
## The title and its meaning
The word *gaga* names the defining code of ethics of the Atayal people, an indigenous group of Taiwan, in which family is paramount and exists in harmony with the natural world.[3](https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3210960/gaga-movie-review-taiwanese-family-drama-golden-horse-best-director-winner-offers-fascinating) In the film, the aging patriarch Hayung has spent his life instilling respect for these traditional norms in his children and grandchildren. After his land is occupied and he passes away, his descendants begin to deviate from gaga, and the film traces what happens to a family when its shared code weakens.[1](https://pavilion.taicca.tw/portfolio-item/gaga/)
## Production and cast
Laha Mebow wrote and directed the film, with Hui-ching Hsieh as co-writer.[4](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt22370990/fullcredits/) The producers were Eric Liang, Arthur Chu Yu-ning, and Axiang Leu, with Chu, himself a renowned director, serving as executive producer.[1](https://pavilion.taicca.tw/portfolio-item/gaga/) • [4](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt22370990/fullcredits/) The film was produced by Sky Films Entertainment, with Swallow Wings Films handling international sales.[1](https://pavilion.taicca.tw/portfolio-item/gaga/)
The cast is led by non-professional and indigenous actors portraying characters close to their real lives: Wilang Lalin (credited as Wilang Noming on some listings) plays Pasang, Kagaw Piling plays the grandmother, Yukan Losing plays Enoch, Esther Huang plays Yuli, and Lin Ting-li plays Ali.[3](https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3210960/gaga-movie-review-taiwanese-family-drama-golden-horse-best-director-winner-offers-fascinating) • [4](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt22370990/fullcredits/) Dialogue mixes Mandarin, English, and Tayal.[5](https://www.labocine.com/films/gaga)
## Reception and awards
At the 2022 Golden Horse Awards, the leading honors of Chinese-language cinema, the film won Best Director for Mebow and Best Supporting Actress for Kagaw Piling.[1](https://pavilion.taicca.tw/portfolio-item/gaga/) • [3](https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3210960/gaga-movie-review-taiwanese-family-drama-golden-horse-best-director-winner-offers-fascinating) Mebow also won Best Director in the Asian Feature Film Competition at the 2022 Singapore International Film Festival.[1](https://pavilion.taicca.tw/portfolio-item/gaga/)
The film screened at the 2022 Hawaii International Film Festival, the 2023 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, and in competition at the 2023 Udine Far East Film Festival.[1](https://pavilion.taicca.tw/portfolio-item/gaga/) Critics received it as a window into a threatened way of life. James Marsh of the [South China Morning Post](https://www.edgepedia.org/south-china-morning-post), rating it 3 of 5 stars, wrote that *Gaga* "offers a fascinating window into a way of life that is in serious danger of disappearing completely."[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/gaga) Li Lai of Mediaversity Reviews gave it an A+ and credited Mebow with expanding "the rather homogenous pool of Taiwanese filmmakers, opening the door for more female and Indigenous perspectives."[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/gaga) Labocine described it as "a warm indigenous family drama that gently crests and falls, like the seasons of their misty, mountainous homelands," noting Mebow's choice to eschew dramatic conceits in favor of a collaboration honoring the ways of her people.[5](https://www.labocine.com/films/gaga)
## The director
Laha Mebow is identified by Taiwan's Content Production and Cultural Content Industry promotion body (TAICCA) as the first female indigenous director in Taiwan.[1](https://pavilion.taicca.tw/portfolio-item/gaga/) *Gaga* is her feature about the Atayal community, made with attention to local specificities and largely with performers from the community itself.[5](https://www.labocine.com/films/gaga) • [3](https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3210960/gaga-movie-review-taiwanese-family-drama-golden-horse-best-director-winner-offers-fascinating)
## References
1. [GAGA – Taiwan Pavilion, TAICCA](https://pavilion.taicca.tw/portfolio-item/gaga/)
2. [Gaga (2022), Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/gaga)
3. [Gaga movie review: Taiwanese family drama by Golden Horse best director winner offers a fascinating glimpse into the indigenous Atayal culture, South China Morning Post (22 February 2023)](https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3210960/gaga-movie-review-taiwanese-family-drama-golden-horse-best-director-winner-offers-fascinating)
4. [Gaga (2022) full cast and crew, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt22370990/fullcredits/)
5. [Gaga, Labocine](https://www.labocine.com/films/gaga)
6. [GAGA film project listing, Taiwan Cinema (BAMID)](https://taiwancinema.bamid.gov.tw/ImageData/320/2022/88947/10452.pdf)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Drama and biographical films (individual works) › Drama films 2020 to 2022*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license