A Taiwanese documentary chronicling the later years of Taiwanese women who were forced into sexual slavery during World War II is to hit moviehouses this week to coincide with the 70th anniversary of the end of the Sino-Japanese war.
The 76-minute-long Song of the Reed (蘆葦之歌) was produced by the Taipei Women’s Rescue Foundation and directed by Wu Hsiu-ching (吳秀菁), an assistant professor at National Taiwan University of Arts.
It documents how some of the “comfort women” in Taiwan overcame grave physical and mental trauma and developed their attitudes toward life over the years, the foundation said, adding that the film focuses on women who attended various workshops organized by the group.
“The documentary portrays the strength of life and courage” demonstrated by the women, foundation executive director Kang Shu-hua (康淑華) said.
It is to start showing in cinemas in Taipei, Taoyuan and Kaohsiung tomorrow.
“It is meaningful” that the film is being screened at a time the nation is marking the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II, Kang said.
The film follows six Taiwanese women who have openly spoken of their suffering at the hands of the Japanese, but four of them have died since the completion of filming in 2013, the foundation said.
Recounting the three years she spent filming the women, most of whom were in their 80s, Wu said the process was filled with challenges.
The crew had to cultivate their relations with the a-ma (阿嬤, grandmothers in Hoklo, commonly known as Taiwanese) in the movie, and it took a while for the a-ma to overcome the difficulties.
However, “our hearts finally won the a-ma over with real friendship,” she said.
“The documentary records true stories,” Wu said, urging young people to watch the film “to know more about what happened on our home soil.”
Yoko Shiba, a member of a Japanese advocacy group for comfort women issues, said that having met several Taiwanese comfort women over the years, she was very touched by the documentary and greatly misses those who have passed away.
A granddaughter of one of the comfort women featured in the documentary also attended the event, recalling her grandmother, who passed away in June 2013, as an optimistic person.
The film has been screened in five special showings across the nation, as well as in New York, Tokyo and Kyoto, Japan, the foundation said.
Last year, it won the Best Anthropology Concern Award at the International Gold Panda Awards for Documentary in Chengdu, China.
Song of the Reed is the second film on comfort women produced by the foundation.
More than 2,000 Taiwanese women and many more across Asia were forced into sexual slavery by the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II, the foundation said.
The issue is still a point of contention today between countries in the region — particularly South Korea and China — and Japan.
Over the past two decades, the foundation has been dedicated to helping comfort women cope with their mental anguish and seek compensation from Japan. It has launched many initiatives in this regard, including documentaries, art exhibitions and counseling workshops.
Despite the foundation’s repeated calls for an apology and compensation for the comfort women in protests held every year, the Japanese government has never given them a satisfactory response.
With the assistance of the foundation, a group of Taiwanese comfort women filed a lawsuit against the Japanese government in 1999, which they lost in 2005.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it