New Taipei City’s Ruifang District in northern Taiwan is currently hosting filming for Martin Scorsese’s upcoming movie Silence. Scorsese, who is also filming in Taipei and Taichung cities, chose Taiwan after talking to director Ang Lee.
The movie follows 17th century Jesuit priests, Sebastião Rodrigues and Francis Garrpe, traveling to Japan which has, banned Catholicism. While in Japan, they witness the persecution of Christians at the hands of the government.
This week, filming is taking place on a trail linking the historic copper and gold mining town of Jinguashi to the Shuangxi District. The trail, which was once used by imperial couriers during the Qing dynasty (1644-1912), is now a popular mountain hiking trail.
Silence, starring Liam Neeson (Taken), Andrew Garfield (Spiderman) and Adam Driver (Girls), is expected to be released in 2016.