Formosa Betrayed, the first US-made movie devoted to a storyline set during the White Terror era, is scheduled for theatrical release in Taiwan by Sky Digi Entertainment Co this August, the film’s producer said.
“Since before the movie was completed, thousands of fans have wondered when it would be released in Taiwan. Now, we are excited to announce that the film is scheduled to be in Taiwanese theaters beginning the weekend of August 6, 2010,” Taiwanese-American filmmaker William Tiao (刁毓能) said in an open letter issued on Friday.
“Sky Digi is also actively seeking another city aside from Taipei to premiere the film so that as many Taiwanese can see the film,” the letter said, adding that “the theatrical release, premiere and other public activities are subject to the review of the Governmental Information Office.”
The movie is a political thriller that tells the fictional story of the murder of a Taiwanese-American professor on US soil. James Van Der Beek, of Dawson’s Creek fame, stars as an FBI agent investigating the murder.
Written and produced by Tiao, the film was inspired by actual events surrounding the death of Chen Wen-chen (陳文成), a professor at Carnegie Mellon University and critic of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government at the time, who died under suspicious circumstances during a visit to Taiwan in 1981, and that of Journalist Henry Liu (劉宜良), who was killed by gangsters allegedly working for the Taiwanese government in Daly City, California, in 1984.
Liu had written an unflattering biography of then-president Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國), the son of dictator Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石).
The film opened in the US on the weekend of Feb. 28 and has been screened in more than 30 selected cities including New York, Los Angeles, Washington, Miami, Atlanta, Seattle, and Honolulu.
This independent film was largely financed by the Taiwanese-American community.
“The story of the Taiwanese people’s struggle for identity, justice and independence has never been told in a Hollywood film,” Tiao said earlier this year.
“Our hope was that the film would be a springboard for discussion about the issues surrounding Taiwan’s status and the Taiwanese people’s desire for democracy and recognition,” he said.
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