We leave very early the next morning for Taichung again. The day before yesterday, several of the people who attended the Taichung luncheon asked to put together a press conference to promote the film, and wanted me to come back to say a few words. In attendance were representatives of Taiwan Society, academia, and politics -- all of whom urged the public to see the film.
After the press conference, the Sky Digi team and I take the high speed rail train back to Taipei. It's quick -- the trip from Taichung to Taipei only takes 45 minutes (it took us 2.5 hours driving). But we need to get back quickly cause I have an interview with PTS -- Taiwan Public Television. The interview is short and sweet.
In the evening, I'm asked to attend a screening sponsored by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) -- which is an outgrowth of the political dissident movement that is shown in Formosa Betrayed. At the screening, one of the speakers offers to buy out a screening of the film in Keelung -- which is great since we are not showing in theaters there.
The next morning, I'm invited to speak on ICRT -- Taiwan's largest English language radio station. It's part rock and roll and part news. It's also the former US Naval Forces broadcasting station when the US had a base in Taiwan during the Vietnam era. I'm interviewed by their morning DJ Terry who's originally from Toronto, Canada. It's an interesting interview. Beforehand, Terry admits that he only saw half the movie. Then he says that he'd like to be careful about the political issues, cause whenever something political comes up he gets "like 40 emails from people." So we keep the conversation focused on the film itself, and not so much the political issues surrounding the film. But by the end he seems very satisfied with the interview, and asks me to come back the next time I'm in Taiwan so he can do a follow up.
Next up is an interview with a journalist from Central News Agency, which is a Taiwan government owned news agency. Once again it's an interesting interview, as she asks a lot of questions about my motivations for making the film, and what it's like to be a Taiwanese-American in Hollywood -- whether my parents supported my decision to become an actor and filmmaker, and what their reactions are now. I tell her that it was a very tough decision to leave my job in Washington DC as an international economist -- the pay was good, it was a fairly prestigious position, and many people would have liked to have been doing my job. But at the end of the day, I wasn't fulfilled creatively in what I was doing. What I do now is much more fulfilling.
I go back to my room and start getting made up for the Taipei premiere. At this point -- I feel like it's an old hat -- the minders, the assistants, the publicists, the makeup people, the media, the distributors. At the same time, I realize how lucky I am to be here -- in this position -- doing what I love. 8 years ago when I left DC, I think only in my wildest dreams would I ever have imagined that all of this would come true. At the same time, I am so grateful to everyone around me who has helped me make this happen.
I get to the Taipei premiere at Vieshow Cinemas next to the famous Taipei 101 building which was until recently the tallest building in the world. It's a bit chaotic -- the screening has been overbooked so they have to get another screening room. Then the program begins. Echo is the MC and introduces Lin Hsin Yeh -- a student from National Taiwan University graduate school of Law. She won a poetry contest inspired by the murder of Professor Chen Wen-Chen -- one of the professors who's murder inspired Formosa Betrayed -- and reads her poem to the audience.
Next up is me. I keep my remarks short -- basically by thanking everyone involved. Finally, I introduce the godfather of the project, Li-Pei Wu. Mr. Wu was the very first person I ever spoke with about Formosa Betrayed and has been a critical partner in helping secure financing for the film. He talks about how we first met, and how he never expected to hear from me again. But that he was surprised and happy to see how everything has turned out and encouraged everyone to see the film more than once.
Finally, Chu Chiu Jen comes to the stage. During the Formosa Incident -- the famous pro-democracy riot in Kaohsiung that inspired our riot in the film -- Mr. Chu sang the song "Desire For Spring Breeze" which is the Taiwanese folk song we use during the credits. Just for singing this song, Mr. Chu was imprisoned for 4 years. As we describe in the DVD commentary of Formosa Betrayed, this song was sung by many Taiwanese because "spring breeze" in Taiwanese sounds like "democracy" so many sang this song as a "desire for democracy." It was also a song sung primarily in Taiwanese, not Chinese, which was discouraged and banned during the "White Terror" era -- the era which is portrayed in the film. It is a moving tribute to those who suffered during that time.
After the screening, we have an afterparty at Ah Tsai Restaurant -- which was a hangout for political dissidents during the "White Terror" era. The Formosa Films team came here in 2008 when we originally scouted Taiwan for the film. It's a throwback to the 70s and 80s, with much of the furniture left from that era still there. There are also secret passageways for people so that they could make sure they were not "spied" upon while talking. It's a fun evening and a fitting conclusion to the day.
Tomorrow... is OPENING DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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