Voices - a film about the 228 Incident

http://collaborativeforfilm.org/p/past-screenings.html

Sunday, November 23, 2008, 2 PM

Voices, Host: James Hsaio
Location: Chez Huff, Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn (email for directions)

About the Film:

Voices is a documentary film which brings forth the stories and testimonies of survivors of Taiwan's February 28th Incident, the 1947 uprising which led to the massacre of tens of thousands of Taiwanese by Chinese Nationalists. The aftermath of Taiwan's holocaust ushered in forty years of marshal law, which silenced the voices that could have spoken about the atrocities committed by the Nationalist government. The year 1987 marked the first public commemoration of the February 28th Incident (also known as the "2-28 Incident"), and the rampant democratization in the ensuing decade encouraged the survivors to finally tell the stories of the brutal massacres.

Following the commemorative spirits and reawakening inspired by the 50th year anniversary of the February 28th Incident, the thirteen survivors in Voices share their experiences of growing up in the shadows of the February 28th Incident. The survivors tell stories such as that of a father who was mysteriously taken away at night by soldiers; a leader who was shot while waving a white flag in surrender; a worker forced to dig graves for himself and his comrades; a family that went searching for a missing father only to find his decomposed body in a grave; a family that brought the deceased father's body home and found three bullets in his skull; a daughter who watched her father slowly die from a injection administered when he was released from prison; and a daughter who was abandoned by her mother shortly after the death of her father.

The film also explores the influence the February 28th Incident has had on the present-day Taiwanese independence movement. Architect Tzu-Tsai Tzeng talks about the concepts behind the 2-28 Memorial in Taipei City, while Dr. Lin Tsung-Yi, founder of the 2-28 Victims' Association, talks about his proposed "peaceful settlement" of the February 28th Incident.
Inspired by the growing public acknowledgment of the February 28th Incident, Voices is also an artistic reconstruction of a historical event for which no photographs, archival footage, or visual documentation has ever been uncovered. The history of the events is pieced together through the works of artists and the testimonies of survivors.

About the Filmmaker:

James Hsiao studied film as at Yale University and produced Voices as his senior thesis, which was awarded the Howard Lamar Prize for Outstanding Work in Film and/or Video. Hsiao's student films have been screened at the New Haven International Festival of Arts and Ideas and recognized at the Connecticut Vision Awards. His most recent film, Water Lilies, a feature-length film about the intertwined lives of a psychiatrist and his three patients, screened at the New York International Independent Film and Video Festival, garnered two nominations for Best Supporting Actress at the B-Movie Film Festival, and is currently in distribution through Vimooz.com. He is currently finishing work on a play, People for Whom the World Spins and Turns, about a set of recovering addicts trying to survive a 28-day recovery program, which was staged as a reading in the Washington DC Capitol Fringe Festival, and is currently in development through the New Plays Reading Series, Essential Theater, Washington, DC. Hsiao's other plays have been performed at the Washington DC 10-minute Play Festival, and staged as readings at the Baltimore Playwrights Festival and the National Asian-American Theater Festival.

Hsiao received his medical degree from the University of Maryland School of Medicine and completed his residency in emergency medicine at the New York-Presbyterian Hospital. He is currently an emergency physician at the Sharp Grossmont Hospital in San Diego. His essays have been published in the online Yale Journal of Humanities and Medicine, and his videos have been published in the New England Journal of Medicine and Academic Emergency Medicine.

228

228 marks an infamous and sad day in Taiwan's history.  On February 27, 1947, agents of the Chinese Kuomingtang (KMT) occupation forces on Taiwan assaulted a woman who was selling cigarettes. Onlookers were outraged and chased the agents away.  Thus began the 228 uprising which ended up with tens of thousands of Taiwanese murdered by the KMT army.  Almost 40 years of martial law ensued (1947-1987) and Taiwanese voices were silenced by the KMT occupation forces.

To commemorate the sacrifices of all those who opposed the tyranny of the Chinese Kuomingtang occupation forces, I have donated $150 annually to fund the Taiwan 228 Memorial Piano and Taiwan 228 Memorial Vocal scholarships in the Saskatoon Music Festival.  I've forgotten when I started the scholarship, but I would imagine it is close to 10 years now.  I have also donated $19/month=$228/year to Amnesty International for over 10 years.   Yesterday, I decided to donate $228 to the University of Toronto ($76 to the Geology Department, $76 to the Physics Department and $76 to New College).  Being a graduate of the Geology and Physics programme, I've been regularly donating to the Geology and Physics departments, but this year, I thought I would donate to New College as well since I'm considered a New graduate.  Today, I got the usual appeal from the Cancer Research Society. They say donations until 228 are tripled by a generous benefactor, so today, I will donate $76 to them (so it will mutiply to $228).  I've also made my yearly donation to FAPA this year and with the C$ up, I gave more this year (US$100).

What will you do to remember 228?  Perhaps, read from Formosa Betrayed, or Formosa Calling.  Maybe watch the film Formosa Betrayed?  I noticed the official site of the movie has been infected with malware - I would not be surprised it it was the work of Chinese hackers.  Sad.  I've also dug out my copy of Jimmy Hsiao's Voices - a film about 228 with first hand accounts by victims.  It is a valuable documentary about this dark chapter of Taiwan's history.  I noticed James Hsiao is now a doctor in San Diego.  The Taiwanese Students Association arranged a screening of Voices at the University of Saskatchewan Arts Lecture Theatre in 1998 or 1999.