Directed by 湯湘竹
"The lifting of martial law is to promote democratization in this region." In 1978, Chiang Ching-kuo became president of the Republic of China. Externally, China, led by Deng Xiaoping, has emerged with a new image, and our country has faced the test of the severance of diplomatic relations between Taiwan and the United States. Internally, the people of Taiwan, who have been under martial law for a long time, have shown their impatience with the authoritarian regime. As the demand for democracy increases and human rights incidents emerge one after another, the experience of leading the intelligence and governance system has become a beast that bites back on itself, severely damaging the international image of Chiang Ching-kuo's regime. Faced with the fact that his life is about to run out of fuel and energy, he must race against time and speed up the pace of reform...
“Unexpected Taiwanese Cinema” takes its title from a regular column by writer Zhang Yi-xuan, published in Fa: A Journal of Film Appreciation. Issue #190 of the magazine centers on films made with archival footage, opening a conversation on archival collage cinema. A special feature titled Private Films by Women explores how the idea that “the personal is political” is practiced through documentary. In her column of the same name, Zhang Yi-xuan also reflects on the film Looking for Chiang Ching-kuo, examining its unique place in the Taiwanese cinematic landscape—how it opens up the past instead of merely returning to it, and how such an approach keeps critical thinking through images alive. Both “archives” and “documentation” point us toward the past. But unless the past is re-examined and redefined, memory cannot truly exist. This collaborative program between Fa and Giloo invites viewers to engage with Taiwanese cinema that defies expectations—films that challenge, refract, and reimagine the nation's film history through both viewing and writing. Together, we hope to uncover new cinematic possibilities waiting within Taiwan’s ever-evolving image archive.
