#Movie footage of martial law news movie#

Like any other boy, he also asked girls out to cinemas. The tricycle trip to the cinema with his family of 5 was fun for Shieh and is still a memory held dear to him. Speaking of his close bond with films, the ambassador associates his earliest memories with his parents and sisters.

#Movie footage of martial law news movie#

Shieh points out that this is another reason accounting for the Black Movie wave. When so much that’s unsayable accumulates, there needs to be some outlet. Taiwan at the time was in turbulence: withdrawing from the United Nations, and the termination of diplomatic relations with the US… it was only natural that people worried about their country’s future. He argues that the violence or visual stimulation brought by the Black Movies functioned as an outlet for people’s accumulated emotional tension, which could explain this sweeping film trend.Īs particularly noted by Ambassador Shieh, these Black Movies never reveal any explicit political messages, since the public enjoyed little freedom of speech, or the right to criticise their government, “…(people) had to be careful not to convey any grievances”. The Ambassador believes that Taiwanese people were living in and around oppression, tight control, and government’s surveillance, that they “might not have been conscious of being oppressed”. It was only until he came to study in Germany on a scholarship, that he became aware of the contrasts between freedom and dictatorship, and the differences between single-party dominance and democracy. Being used to the situation in his home country, he barely felt fear instead, he had quite an enjoyable time watching those films. The juxtaposition of these movies, and the relatively conservative and secluded Taiwanese society reveals the most contradictiing film trend.Īmbassador Shieh recalls that he was still in school during the martial law period, and that he had indeed watched several so-called Black Movies. The film tells the story of Taiwan in the 70s when the motion picture industry was in a sweeping wave of violent, bloody, and sexual visual experience: a good example would be another film from the program- “On the Society File of Shanghai”. There will also be a screening of a documentary on this subject: “Taiwan Black Movies”, by Director Hou Chi-Jan. The conversation revisits Black Movies during the martial law period, where Ambassador Shieh also shares childhood memories through stories and laughter.

There will also be two pre-show talks: the first features Taiwan’s Ambassador Jhy-Wey Shieh, and its very own TFF curator- Jaye. Rather than having to travel to the cinema, you can now sit back and enjoy nine handpicked masterworks at home. Despite the global pandemic, the Taiwan Film Festival in Berlin continues to bring top-quality visual art to its audience.