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.
There are 77 incidents of Taiwanese travelers going missing in China between January last year and last month, the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) said. More than 40 remain unreachable, SEF Secretary-General Luo Wen-jia (羅文嘉) said on Friday. Most of the reachable people in the more than 30 other incidents were allegedly involved in fraud, while some had disappeared for personal reasons, Luo said. One of these people is Kuo Yu-hsuan (郭宇軒), a 22-year-old Taiwanese man from Kaohsiung who went missing while visiting China in August. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office last month said in a news statement that he was under investigation
‘JOINT SWORD’: Whatever President Lai says in his Double Ten speech, China would use it as a pretext to launch ‘punishment’ drills for his ‘separatist’ views, an official said China is likely to launch military drills this week near Taiwan, using President William Lai’s (賴清德) upcoming national day speech as a pretext to pressure the nation to accept its sovereignty claims, Taiwanese officials said. China in May launched “punishment” drills around Taiwan shortly after Lai’s inauguration, in what Beijing said was a response to “separatist acts,” sending heavily armed warplanes and staging mock attacks as state media denounced newly inaugurated Lai. The May drills were dubbed “Joint Sword — 2024A” and drew concerns from capitals, including Washington. Lai is to deliver a key speech on Thursday in front of the Presidential Office
An aviation jacket patch showing a Formosan black bear punching Winnie the Pooh has become popular overseas, including at an aviation festival held by the Japan Air Self-Defense Force at the Ashiya Airbase yesterday. The patch was designed last year by Taiwanese designer Hsu Fu-yu (徐福佑), who said that it was inspired by Taiwan’s countermeasures against frequent Chinese military aircraft incursions. The badge shows a Formosan black bear holding a Republic of China flag as it punches Winnie the Pooh — a reference to Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) — who is dressed in red and is holding a honey pot with
Taiwan was listed in 14th place among the world's wealthiest country in terms of GDP per capita, in the latest rankings released on Monday by Forbes magazine. Taiwan's GDP per capita was US$76,860, which put it at No. 14 on the list of the World's 100 Richest Countries this year, one spot above Hong Kong with US$75,130. The magazine's list of the richest countries in the world is compiled based on GDP per capita data, as estimated by the IMF. However, for a more precise measure of a nation's wealth, the magazine also considers purchasing power parity, which is a metric used to
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