2019
In 2017, Fang Si-Chi's First Love Paradise was published. Its distinct literary style immediately captivated readers, but the brutal reality and agonizing introspection presented beneath the exquisite yet sharp prose caused an even greater storm when the author, Lin Yi-Han, chose to take her own life shortly after the novel's release. To this day, this novel is constantly referenced whenever Taiwanese people discuss gender issues. For eight years, no one has forgotten Fang Si-Chi and Lin Yi-Han. However, even after the wounds have been exposed, we still hope for the possibility of repair and healing—not only for Si-Chi and Yi-Han but also for all the real pains that have been spoken and those yet to be uttered. If stories once brought dark wounds into the light, then in 2025, we hope to use the power of stories to rise powerfully from heartbreak, becoming a light for ourselves and for others.
"He found society's taboo against sex incredibly convenient; when a girl was raped, the whole world thought it was her fault, and even she thought it was her fault." — Fang Si-Chi's First Love Paradise What silences victims is not just the perpetrator, but the entire society. What we can do is, through speaking out and discussion, ensure that incidents hidden in society's shadows no longer sink into darkness.
How can we remember the pain and resistance, helplessness and belief, hatred and love we once experienced in the dark of night? Night serves as a metaphor and a space for inheriting historical secrets. People act in secret during the night, hoping to open their minds and initiate new possibilities before dawn breaks. The 2023 Autumn Festival, themed "Nights in Memory," invites artists to collectively confront the echoes and inspirations brought by every night in memory. Memories purged, replaced, hidden, and questioned in those dark nights are re-told through the transformation of creative language, bringing to light overlooked, concealed, or ambiguous stories, igniting the fire of memory in the darkness. The National Theater & Concert Hall, in collaboration with Giloo, has curated the "2023 Autumn Festival" online film exhibition. Through the vertical in-depth exploration of theater and the horizontal extension of cinema, we will have the opportunity to transcend divisions and discern the significance of the nights we have experienced in our lives.