Taiwan Films Archives - Talking Taiwan Podcast

Vickie Wang (王宇平) Survivng the Shanghai COVID Lockdown of 2022 and Attitudes and Perceptions between Taiwanese and Chinese Ep 343

Felicia Lin — Mon, 30 Mar 2026 18:16:17 +0000

Vickie Wang (王宇平) is a writer, interpreter, and stand-up comedian born and raised in Taiwan. She’s lived in Shanghai, China for nearly a decade, where she started doing stand-up comedy under censorship. Last year I sat down to interview Vickie. in part one of my interview with Vickie, we talked about the perceptions and attitudes that many Taiwanese have about the Chinese, and on the other end how the Chinese she met in China perceived the Taiwanese and Taiwan.

We also talked what it was like for her to go through the strict COVID lockdown in Shanghai in 2022. Now based in New City York Vickie co-produces a monthly stand-up show called Wang’s World Comedy (pronounced WAYNE) and writes a Substack called Happy Medium. Stay tuned for the second part of my interview with Vickie.

She has published two Taiwan op-eds in The New York Times, one on the metoo movement, and one on what another Trump term means for Taiwan’s future. She is currently working on a nonfiction book about her experience of COVID and comedy in China.

KITA Foundation: Mapping the Path of the Trailblazers that Paved the Way for Taiwan’s Democracy and Freedom Ep 342

Felicia Lin — Tue, 17 Mar 2026 11:34:57 +0000

So in the vein of reflecting on the past, this year I thought I’d share my interview with Sabrina Liu and Meng Chiang who are part of the team that makes up the KITA Foundation, an organization that was formed as an oral history project to understand who are the trailblazers that paved the way for Taiwan’s democracy and freedom.

Every year we try to dedicate an episode of Talking Taiwan to 228, an important date in Taiwan’s history, marking the 228 Massacre. 228 stands for February 28 1947. February 28th is now commemorated as a national holiday in Taiwan known as the 228 Peace Memorial Day.

However, the 228 Massacre is not confined to this single date in history. There were circumstances leading up what happened on February 28th and there were also subsequent events after February 28th which escalated into bloody violence and massacres leading to what some refer to as the March Massacre.

Under the authoritarian Chiang regime, and Chinese Nationalist Kuomintang, what followed after 228 was 38 years of martial law and the White Terror era. Anyone could be disappeared, executed or worse for just saying or doing the wrong thing, or for what was seemingly wrong in the eyes of the authorities. The people of Taiwan were horrified and terrified. For decades there was denial and suppression of 228 by authorities in Taiwan, and generations dared not speak of 228.

228 was absent from high school textbooks until relatively recently. To learn more about the specifics of 228 I invite you to listen to some of our past episodes on the topic. We recommend episodes 309, 277, 228, and 172.

In an effort to confront its authoritarian past, in recent years Taiwan has taken steps to acknowledge historical sites of injustice such as buildings where military police fired on civilians on February 28, 1947. Around this time of year, around February 28 and leading into March, it’s a time to reflect on the past, and what we can learn from it.

The Real Life “Love in Taipei” Story: Virtuoso Musician Couple Antoine Boyer and Yeore Kim Ep 329

Felicia Lin — Fri, 03 Oct 2025 14:21:32 +0000

In this episode, the husband-and-wife team, gypsy jazz and classical guitarist Antoine Boyer and chromatic harmonica player Yeore Kim shared about their real life “Love in Taipei” story. He’s from France and she’s from South Korea, so music was their first common language. We also talked about how they navigate their partnership as life partners and as musical partners, and their debut duet album You and I.

If you’d like to know more about Antoine you can check out Kaju’s in-depth interview with Antoine on YouTube

Julien Oeuillet The Voice of South Taiwan Shines a Spotlight on Kaohsiung Ep 315

Felicia Lin — Tue, 01 Jul 2025 08:36:53 +0000

Julien Oeuillet is an independent journalist, known as the Voice of South Taiwan who has produced content for Radio Taiwan International and TaiwanPlus. He is the Founding Editor of IPON the Indo-Pacific Open News.

Back in November of 2024 we interviewed Julien about a broad number of topics including:

How he is very much at home in Kaohsiung
How he got his start in broadcasting and media
What he thinks makes a good and bad journalist especially in Taiwan
How he focuses on putting a spotlight on Kaohsiung and southern Taiwan through his Radio Taiwan International show, The Voice of South Taiwan
His documentary Taiwan’s Little Big Friend about Lithuania and its relationship with Taiwan

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

Why Julien saw the need to start IPON (Indo-Pacific Open News)
Julien’s upbringing
How Julien got started in broadcasting and media
How Julien was taken under the wing of veteran journalist and documentary filmmaker Philippe Dutilleul
How Julien sees himself as a Kaohsiung resident
How Julien has seen Kaohsiung transform
How Julien thinks that Kaohsiung should receive more international attention
Julien’s Radio Taiwan International show, the Voice of South Taiwan
What Julien thinks makes someone a good or bad journalist especially pertaining to Taiwan
Julien’s thoughts on English and education in Taiwan
Julien’s observations on the Taoist nature of people in Taiwan
What is Taiwanese identity
Julien’s connection to Lithuania
Parallels between Lithuania and Taiwan
Julien’s documentary, Taiwan’s Little Big Friend
If Lithuania will keep its Taiwan Representative Office
Julien’s thoughts on China’s fear mongering

Documentary Films on the Pandemic, Immigration, and Human Rights Issues: Our Talk with Taiwanese American Filmmaker Hsuan Yu Pan Ep 301

Felicia Lin — Tue, 31 Dec 2024 15:28:47 +0000

In this episode of Talking Taiwan, I started off speaking with Taiwanese American documentary filmmaker Hsuan Yu Pan about how she got interested in documentary filmmaking. As we talked about her films, we covered a broad range of topics from the COVID-19 pandemic to parallels between the 2017 travel bans that barred people from seven Muslim majority countries from entering the U.S. and internment of Japanese Americans in the1940s. Time and time again entire groups of people have been targeted and blamed.

This led us back to the pandemic and recalling the high incidence of Asian hate that happened at that time. Her current film project Hear, Eat, Home touches on many of these topics including the Syrian Revolution and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. After speaking to Hsuan Yu I get the sense that through her documentary filmmaking she wishes to create understanding so that history doesn’t repeat itself and to foster more empathy in the world.

Below in the Related Links section is a link where you can support and watch a work in progress version of Hsuan Yu’s film Hear, Eat, Home.

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

Hsuan Yu’s upbringing and how she initially had aspirations to be a visual artist
How Hsuan Yu got interested in documentary filmmaking
How Hsuan Yu’s early experiences editing wedding videos taught her how to use video footage to tell a story
How her work at Bric TV taught her how to find stories
How she came up with the concept for her documentary film Alone Together that was shot during the pandemic
How footage for Alone Together was gathered and planned
How Alone Together featured footage from 11 different countries
What Hsuan Yu learned from making the film Alone Together
Hsuan Yu views her filmmaking as being about telling people’s stories
How she met the Taiwanese puppeteer, Mr. Tsai who is the subject of her documentary film project I, Puppet
How Hsuan Yu was able to encourage Mr. Tsai to do some impromptu puppetry in New York’s Washington Square Park
How Mr. Tsai attended a Puppet Slam event in Coney Island, NY and brought the puppet slam concept back to his puppet museum in Taipei, Taiwan
The relationship between Mr. Tsai and his father who is also a puppeteer
How and why Mr. Tsai’s parents didn’t want him to become a puppeteer
What Hsuan Yu loves about making documentaries
Her documentary film project Hear, Eat, Home
How two of the subjects of the film Hear, Eat, Home, Kinan Azmeh and Kevork Mourad are members of Yo-yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble
How the internment of Japanese Americans and the travel bans of 2017 (aka Muslim bans) are examples of how the U.S. government has labeled certain groups of people as a threat and discriminated against them
How Kinan Azmeh was affected by the travel bans of 2017 (aka Muslim bans)
How different groups have been blamed such as the Japanese Americans, Muslim Americans and Asian American
How as a documentary filmmaker Hsuan Yu feels that sne should document history so that people can learn from history
Kevork Mourad’s background and family story
What the film Hear, Eat, Home is about
Hear Eat Home tells the story of Syrians, Japanese Americans and Ukrainians
What Hsuan Yu believes makes a good documentary
How Hsuan Yu was trying to finish working on Hear, Eat, Home in 2020, but she wasn’t satified with it
When the Russian invasion of Ukraine happened in 2022 Hsuan Yu felt that she should include stories of her Ukrainian friends in to the film Hear, Eat, Home
Hsuan Yu plans to complete Hear, Eat, Home me next year
Hear Eat Home is available for view as a work in progress until January 5th
Anyone wishing to support the completion of Hsuan Yu’s film Hear, Eat, Home can make a donation on the link provided on TalkingTaiwan.com for this episode

The History of NATWA: Unique Contributions in Leadership and Sisterhood Ep 300

Felicia Lin — Thu, 19 Dec 2024 08:47:48 +0000

NATWA (the North America Taiwanese Women’s Association) has been around since 1988 and for this episode about NATWA I interviewed Elena Ling, one of NATWA’s founding members, Hui-Na Lin, a past NATWA national president, Susan Liao, two-time president of NATWA’s Toronto chapter, and Sue Kuo NATWA’s current vice president and president elect for 2025. It is impossible to properly acknowledge the unique contributions of each NATWA national president, or all of NATWA’s board and committee members, NATWA’s supporters, donors, and countless others who have made NATWA what it is.

As I reflect on this, I’d like to share a poetic analogy that Hui-Na Lin, 2022-2023 NATWA national president shared with me to describe the essence of NATWA. It’s from a short story she wrote “Fly Together Over Mountains” which she told me was inspired by the Canadian geese’s migration down south for the winter each year. A single goose could not make the trip as efficiently alone. Several geese fly together as a group in a V formation. There is one bird that leads the group initially, but when the lead bird gets tired, it moves to the back for a rest, and another bird takes the lead. The birds all take turns leading the group to their final destination. Like the Canadian geese NATWA’s members work together to support each other in turn. It’s not about one single leader.

As you listen to this episode you’ll learn more about how NATWA meets its five point mission statement which is:

to evoke a sense of self-esteem and enhance women’s dignity,
to oppose gender discrimination and promote gender equality,
to fully develop women’s potential and encourage their participation in public affairs,
to contribute to the advancement of human rights and democratic development in Taiwan,
to reach out and work with women’s organizations worldwide to promote peace for all.

Special Thanks to Elena Ling and Alvina Ling for providing useful details about NATWA’s formation and history for this episode. And a very special thank you to NATWA and its members for all of the encouragement and support that you’ve given to our two-person team here at Talking Taiwan. Thank you for making our work possible.

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

How and why NATWA (the North America Taiwanese Women’s Association) was founded
Annette Lu’s (former Vice President of Taiwan) connection to NATWA
How Annette Lu was one of the Kaohsiung Eight (one of eight people arrested as a result of the Kaohsiung aka Formosa incident)
The first meeting with the 30 founding members of NATWA
How NATWA has a President-elect who serves as Vice President the year before becoming President
How NATWA started off as a national organization
The early formation of NATWA
How progressive it was at the time to form NATWA
How NATWA has grown from 30 to 1,000 members
How NATWA became a 501(c)(3) organization
How NATWA has 2 major events a year, an annual convention (in April) and a mid-year leadership meeting (in October)
The impact that NATWA has made in the lives of its members
How Hui-Na Lin and Susan Liao got involved in NATWA initially and later took on leadership roles in the organization
NATWA’s early struggles in attracting members due to pressure from Taiwan’s Kuomintang (KMT) government at the time
NATWA’s early successful fundraising efforts
Why NATWA avoided accepting any government funding
NATWA’s early successful projects
NATWA’s charitable fundraising efforts
How NATWA’s members are aging
How NATWA’s membership and programs grew during the pandemic
What made NATWA’s WebEx programs during the pandemic successful
What types of WebEx programs NATWA offered during the pandemic
Major activities organized by NATWA Toronto
The first NATWA event that Felicia Lin, the host of Talking Taiwan was invited to attend
How Hui-Na and her team got NATWA’s members to attend the first in-person mid-year meeting and annual conventions that took place after restrictions on COVID were eased
How NATWA addresses women’s issues and promotes women’s dignity
The formation of NATWA II an organization for second generation Taiwanese American women
Questions about the future direction of NATWA
What Elena, Hui-Na and Susan have each gotten out of their involvement with NATWA

“Decathalon” The Story of Taiwan’s Greatest Olympian: My Conversation with Award-Winning Journalist Mike Chinoy Ep 290

Felicia Lin — Sat, 24 Aug 2024 09:58:45 +0000

Here’s my conversation with award winning journalist Mike Chinoy on his new film Decathalon about CK Yang and Rafer Johnson in 1960 Olympics.

The recent Paris Olympics has just passed and may already be fading into memory. This year Team Taiwan won 2 gold medals and 5 bronze at the Olympics.

Do you know when and who won Taiwan’s first Olympic medal?

It happened at the 1960 Rome Olympics, which was the first Summer Olympics that was televised in North America. The man who was known as the “Iron Man of Asia,” C.K. Yang won a silver medal in the decathlon. C.K. was of the Amis indigenous tribe from southeastern Taiwan. His Amis name was Maysang Kalimud, but then Japan colonized Taiwan he had a Japanese name when, and then after the Chinese Nationalists the Kuomintang lost the civil war in China to the Chinese Communist and fled to Taiwan, his father gave him a Chinese name, Yang Chuan-kwang. Like many Amis, he used his athletic prowess to gain status and success that might otherwise have eluded him. But not much is known about how heavily he identified as Amis.

The gold medal winner at the Rome Olympics was Rafer Johnson, an African American.

Rafer and C.K. trained together under the same coach at UCLA and then competed against each other in the decathlon at the Rome Olympics. They were not only rivals but also the best of friends.

Their extraordinary and unlikely friendship inspired the making of a documentary film and I sat down recently to speak with Mike Chinoy, the co-creator, co-writer, and co-producer of that film which is called “Decathlon: The CK Yang and Rafer Johnson Story,”

Mike Chinoy is a Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the University of Southern California’s US-China Institute and is based in Taipei. Previously, he spent 24 years as a foreign correspondent for CNN, serving as the network’s first Beijing bureau chief and as Senior Asia Correspondent.

“Decathlon: The CK Yang and Rafer Johnson Story” is currently streaming on the Taiwan Plus Docs YouTube channel.

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

Team Taiwan’s performance during the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris
How flags and signs in the shape of Taiwan or with the word Taiwan on them were confiscated from fans during the men’s doubles badminton finals at the Paris Olympics
How China’s state-run broadcaster CCTV cut the feed during parts of the men’s badminton doubles match and did not broadcast the medal ceremony
Why Taiwan has to compete under the name “Chinese Taipei” at the Olympics
The “Iron Man of Asia”
The man that won Taiwan’s first Olympic medal
C.K. Yang was Amis and had three names, an Amis name (Maysang Kalimud), a Japanese name and a Chinese name (Yang Chuan-kwang, 楊傳廣)
How C.K. first met Rafer Johnson at the Melbourne Olympics in 1956
How C.K. and Rafer were trained by the same coach at UCLA and became close friends
The International Olympic Committee (I.O.C) told the government of Chiang Kai-shek that the team sent to participate at the 1960 Rome Olympics could not be called the Republic of China
Chiang Kai-shek almost boycotted the Olympics but didn’t because he realized that C.K. Yang could possibly win a medal and bring glory to Taiwan
How Taiwan competed under the name Formosa during the 1960 Rome Olympics
C.K. Yang was the first person with a Chinese surname to win an Olympic medal
At the opening ceremony of the 1960 Rome Olympics Rafer Johnson was the first African American to carry the American flag at the Olympics
At the opening ceremony of the 1960 Rome Olympics, the Taiwan team marched in carrying a placard that said under protest, which was the first overt political protest by a team in Olympics history
Where the idea for “Decathlon: The CK Yang and Rafer Johnson Story” came from
How Mike’s co-creator, co-writer, and co-producer, John Krich sought out, befriended and interviewed C.K. Yang in 2006
How Mike met and befriended Rafer Johnson and C.K.’s widow Daisy in Los Angeles
Taiwanese Canadian film director of “Decathlon: The CK Yang and Rafer Johnson Story,” Frank W. Chen also directed “Late Life: The Chien-Ming Wang Story”
How C.K. Yang, Rafer Johnson and athletes have become political symbols
How C.K. Yang and Rafer Johnson were intense athletic rivals and close friends
The close personal friendship between C.K. Yang and Rafer Johnson
How C.K. Yang and Rafer Johnson had the same coach, Ducky Drake at UCLA
How C.K. Yang and Rafer Johnson joked that they were the “Two-Man United Nations”
How C.K. Yang’s story tells the story of Taiwan in an unconventional way
Why C.K. was sent to UCLA to train for the Olympics
The 1958 Kinmen Matsu Crisis (aka The 1958 Taiwan Strait Crisis)
How C.K. Yang and Rafer Johnson’s coach, Ducky Drake showed no favoritism
When U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1968, Rafer was next to him, Rafer grabbed the assassin, tackled him and grabbed the gun
Rafer’s involvement in the Special Olympics
What happened to C.K. at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics
C.K. later became the coach of the Taiwan track team for the 1976 Olympics in Montreal, Canada
Why the team from Taiwan was barred from participating in the 1976 Olympics in Montreal
Rafer Johnson lit the flame at the 1984 Olympic games in L.A.
How C.K. went into politics briefly in Taiwan, switching from one party to another
The Iron Man house that the government of Taiwan built for C.K.
How statues of C.K. are in a locked fourth floor room of the National Sports Training Center in Kaohsiung
There cover of Sports Illustrated magazine in 1963 with the headline “ C.K. Yang, the world’s greatest athlete.”
The tremendous sportsmanship and loyalty that C.K. and Rafer exemplify
C.K.’s performance at 1954 Asian Games in Manilla
The use of animation in “Decathlon: The CK Yang and Rafer Johnson Story,”
The National Sports Training Center in Kaohsiung
How the film addresses the Taiwan, China conflict, and the fight for social justice and equality in the United States; 64 years later the world is still wrestling with these issues
Mike’s future projects

Decathlon: The CK Yang & Rafer Johnson Story 奧運傳奇：楊傳廣與強森 | Full Documentary: https://youtu.be/usbdC5v3LX8?si=FgQKZkFaJh-eutGj

C.K. Yang: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yang_Chuan-kwang

Rafer Johnson: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rafer_Johnson

Decathlon: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decathlon

What’s in a Name? A Chinese Taipei Story | Full Documentary: https://youtu.be/p8pYnsnq8x0?si=Ddksa2SSZJDWCbGG

Amis: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amis_people

Japanese invasion of Taiwan (1895): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_invasion_of_Taiwan_(1895)

Taiwan under Japanese rule: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiwan_under_Japanese_rule

History of the Kuomintang: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Kuomintang

Flags banned, signs ripped up: Why you can’t mention Taiwan at the Olympics: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/flags-banned-taiwan-olympics-chinese-taipei-rcna165502

Taiwan asks for investigation into a fan at Olympic badminton having a sign taken away and ripped up: https://apnews.com/article/2024-olympics-taiwan-china-273274375d4ae6221b0aa17d1dfe2e7e

Security guard snatches bubble tea sign from Taiwanese fan at Olympic badminton final: https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/news/5914949

Boxer Lin Yu-ting says she blocked out gender dispute en route to gold: https://www.reuters.com/sports/olympics/boxing-taiwans-lin-says-she-blocked-out-gender-dispute-en-route-gold-2024-08-10/

Boxer from Taiwan shakes off gender questions to win fight and assure medal: https://www.nbcnews.com/sports/olympics/lin-yu-ting-chinese-taipei-boxer-taiwan-shakes-gender-questions-wins-b-rcna165051

1960 Rome Olympics: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1960_Summer_Olympics

https://olympics.com/en/olympic-games/rome-1960

1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1989_Tiananmen_Square_protests_and_massacre

How covering June 4 Tiananmen Square crackdown kicked off ‘CNN Effect’: https://www.cnn.com/2014/06/01/world/asia/tiananmen-chinoy/index.html

Chiang Kai-shek: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiang_Kai-shek

Republic of China: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_China_(1912%E2%80%931949)

People’s Republic of China: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China

Formosa: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_Formosa

Frank W. Chen: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm9748617/

Late Life: The Chien-Ming Wang Story: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8234502/

Le Bron James: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LeBron_James

1958 Kinmen and Katsu crisis (aka The 1958 Taiwan Strait Crisis): https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_memoranda/RM4900.html

https://history.state.gov/milestones/1953-1960/taiwan-strait-crises

https://taiwantoday.tw/news.php?unit=4&post=754

UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles): https://www.ucla.edu/

Senator Robert F. Kennedy: https://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/the-kennedy-family/robert-f-kennedy

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_F._Kennedy

Eunice Kennedy Shriver: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eunice_Kennedy_Shriver

1964 Tokyo Olympics: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1964_Summer_Olympics

https://olympics.com/en/olympic-games/tokyo-1964

Special Olympics: https://www.specialolympics.org/

National Sports Training Center in Kaohsiung: https://web.nstc.org.tw/English/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Sports_Training_Center

An article about C.K. Yang from the 1963 Sports Illustrated cover with the headline “The World’s Greatest Athlete” and C.K. Yang’s photo on it: https://vault.si.com/vault/1963/12/23/the-cobra-and-c-k-yang

Asian Games: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_Games

1956 Melbourne Olympics: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1956_Summer_Olympics

https://olympics.com/en/olympic-games/melbourne-1956

This Week in China’s History: October 25, 1971: https://thechinaproject.com/2020/10/21/when-the-prc-won-the-china-seat-at-the-un/

Kuomintang (KMT): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuomintang

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Progressive_Party

Taiwan Strait Risk Report Newsletter: https://taiwanrisk.com/

David Kilgour Author and Human Rights Advocate: Why 2022 is the China Genocide Olympics Ep 170

David Kilgour Author and Human Rights Advocate: Why 2022 is the China Genocide Olympics (Episode 170): https://talkingtaiwan.com/david-kilgour-author-and-human-rightd-advocate-why-2022-is-the-china-genocide-olympics-ep-170/

The post “Decathalon” The Story of Taiwan’s Greatest Olympian: My Conversation with Award-Winning Journalist Mike Chinoy Ep 290 appeared first on Talking Taiwan Podcast.

Invisible Nation: Director Vanessa Hope Discusses her Documentary About Tsai Ing-Wen’s Presidency Ep 284

Felicia Lin — Wed, 29 May 2024 08:51:03 +0000

Vanessa Hope is the director of Invisible Nation, a documentary film that takes a look at the presidency of Tsai Ing-wen, Taiwan’s first female president and events that happened during her tenure. We talked about what first brought Vanessa to Taiwan which meant that she was there in 1996 during the inauguration of Lee Teng-hui, Taiwan’s first directly elected president. Then in 2016 after Vanessa came to Taiwan with an international delegation to observe Taiwan’s presidential elections and witnessed the election of Tsai Ing-wen, she came up with the idea for a film about Tsai Ing-wen’s presidency.

Vanessa’s first feature length documentary, All Eyes And Ears examined relations between the U.S. and China through the stories of U.S. Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman, his adopted Chinese daughter Gracie Mei, and blind legal advocate Chen Guangcheng.

When I asked Vanessa about her experience making a documentary film in China, she recounted a story that explained why she personally related to the backlash and pressure from China that Chou Tzu-yu, a Taiwanese member of a K-pop band has faced.

We also talked about the challenges in making Invisible Nation over a seven year period, Vanessa’s personal motivations for making the film and where Invisible Nation is going to be screened in the near future.

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

What brought Vanessa to Taiwan and got her interested in Taiwan
What Vanessa observed when she was in Taiwan for the inauguration of Lee Teng-hui, the first directly elected president of Taiwan
The first time she dabbled in filmmaking
How Vanessa wrote and recorded the podcast, Love Is a Crime, which tells the story of her family’s connection to film
The state of the film industry which Vanessa’s husband Ted Hope writes about on Substack
How Vanessa came up with the idea for the film, Invisible Nation
Vanessa worked at the Council on Foreign Relations
Vanessa came to Taiwan with an international delegation to observe Taiwan’s presidential elections in 2016 and witnessed the election of Tsai Ing-wen
How Vanessa secured a grant focused on women, peace and security
How film producer Sylvia Feng helped Vanessa with submitting a proposal to President Tsai’s office regarding her idea for a documentary film
How they filmed an interview with Chen Chu before hearing an answer from President Tsai’s office about the documentary film proposal
How Vanessa originally envisioned working a film about Taiwan’s first female president
The backlash President Tsai received from China initially
The discrimination that Taiwan faces internationally
How Taiwan has been excluded from international organizations like the WHO, the United Nations, the Olympics and others
How Russia’s invasion of Ukraine highlighted concerns about the threat Taiwan faces from China
How Xi Jinping has said that he will not renounce the use of force against Taiwan
Where the name of the film, Invisible Nation came from
The film Vanessa produced, Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism in America, about
If President Tsai had any say in the film Invisible Nation
What personally motivated Vanessa to make the film, Invisible Nation
How the interview and scene with Chen Chu in the film came about
How Chen Chu wrote her will when she was in prison and dedicated her life to the people of Taiwan
What it was like meeting former President Ma Ying-jeou
How Vanessa’s mentor at the Council on Foreign Relations, Jerome Cohen had been a professor at Harvard Law School to Ma Ying-jeou and Annette Lu
What Vanessa learned from working at the Council on Foreign Relations
What fascinated Vanessa about how the singer Chou Tzu-yu was forced to apologize for waving a flag that represented Taiwan
Wen Liu’s comments about President Tsai that didn’t make it into the film Invisible Nation
How it was decided that historical facts to keep in the film or not
How part of the editing process for the film Invisible Nation was to test it on audiences
How Vanessa has had to edit down Invisible Nation from 85 minutes to 55 minutes for television
Who is the target audience of the film, Invisible Nation
Why some of the Taiwanese who worked on Invisible Nation had to use pseudonyms
China’s 3 T’s that you are not supposed to talk about, Taiwan, Tibet, and Tiananmen
The difference in working on documentary films in China vs. Taiwan
What happened to Vanessa when she was in Tibet and tried to board a train with U.S. Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman, who she was filming for her first documentary film, All Eyes and Ears
Why Vanessa could relate to what happened to the singer Chou Tzu-yu
Scenes that had to be cut from the film, Invisible Nation
The challenge in making Invisible Nation
Feedback that Vanessa has received at screenings of Invisible Nation
What Vanessa hopes that people take away from the film Invisible Nation
If Vanessa has gotten any negative feedback or threats from pro-China media or parties
Where Invisible Nation is going to be screened
Vanessa’s future film projects

Isa Ho: Talks About her Career as a Photographer and her Westbeth Exhibit in NYC Ep 282

Felicia Lin — Mon, 29 Apr 2024 16:46:03 +0000

Isa Ho is a photographer based in Taiwan. Last year I spoke with her about her photography and the Westbeth Exhibit in NYC, which consists of a series of photos and videos of artists who live at Westbeth Artists Housing, which is located in New York City’s West Village.

Westbeth is so named because it sits at the corner of West and Bethune Streets, and was conceived in the 1960’s as a partial solution to the acute need to provide affordable housing and studios for artists and their families.

The abandoned 13-building complex that was constructed between the 1860s and the 1930s, was formerly used by Bell Telephone Labs, and was turned into affordable permanent housing and workspace for hundreds of artists, as well as space for arts and cultural organizations. Westbeth was the first subsidized housing for artists in the United States. In 2009 it was added to the National Registrar of Historic Places. And in 2011 the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission unanimously designated Westbeth Artists Housing a New York City landmark.

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

Isa’s exhibit at the Westbeth gallery that features her photos and videos of artists who reside at Westbeth
How Isa is working on a documentary about the residents of Westbeth
How Isa arrived for a residency at Westbeth in 2013 after Hurricane Sandy
The residency project that brought Isa to Westbeth was initially about multicultural New York but as she got to know many of the people who lived at Westbeth, it became the Westbeth project
Isa’s connection to Taiwan
How Isa is fascinated by people
Isa has interviewed over 50 people and what was on display at the Westbeth gallery is only a third of her work
The personal stories of several of the artist who live at Westbeth
How the photos and videos were displayed at the Westbeth gallery
How the Westbeth project has been exhibited in Israel, Italy, Germany and Taiwan
How people have reacted to the Westbeth project
How one of the pieces of the Westbeth project won an award in Italy
How Isa got interested in photography
How Isa creates a collage of photos that serve to tell a person’s story
How Isa does her photography full-time
Isa’s advice to those interested in pursuing photography
Isa’s video comparing the movements of Kunqu opera dancer and K-POP dancer
Why Isa is planning to go to Ukraine
How Isa felt useless as an artist during the pandemic but realized that when facing tragedy or if feeling like there is nothing that we can do, art can connect us with humanity
How there aren’t many housing communities like Westbeth in the world
The wait list of people who want to live at Westbeth
How one of the Westbeth residents George Cominskie has advocated for artists

Michelle Krusiec: Acclaimed Actor, Writer, and Director Talks About Dealing with Institutional Racism and her Sources of Inspiration Ep 279

Felicia Lin — Thu, 21 Mar 2024 17:35:55 +0000

Last September I had the pleasure of interviewing actor, writer and director Michelle Krusiec. Her IMDB page displays an impressive list of acting roles dating back to 1992.

We talked about the different phases of her career starting with her one-woman show, Made in Taiwan, which earned her much critical acclaim. She wrote, directed and acted in it in her 20s. Then there was her first main character role in a feature film, Saving Face, a film that put her on my radar and so many others’ in 2004. In 2020 she portrayed the legendary Anna May Wong in the Netflix series Hollywood. Stepping into that role helped her to rethink the institutionalized racism that she’s experienced as an actor. Michelle also talked about her directorial projects, and expressed her thoughts on the SAG-AFTRA strike, and so much more.

March is Women’s History Month and so we thought this would be the perfect time to release the first episode of the Trailblazing Taiwanese Women’s series sponsored by NATWA, the North America Taiwanese Women’s Association, which was founded in 1988. To learn more about NATWA visit their website: www.natwa.com

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

How she got on the path of acting
The stereotypical Asian roles she took on early in her career
The struggles she’s faced in her acting career
How playing the role of Anna May Wong helped her to rethink the institutional racism that she’s faced as an actor
Her first leading role in a feature film (Saving Face)
How she grew up she didn’t see many people who looked like her on television and longed to change that
How Michelle prepared for her role in Saving Face by going to Taiwan to learn Mandarin
How Michelle prepared for her role as Anna May Wong in the Netflix series Hollywood
Michelle’s directing projects
Michelle’s one woman show Made in Taiwan and how it opened doors for her and got her a deal with ABC TV
How anti-Asian hate became more prevalent during the pandemic but was around long before
Her upbringing and how it impacted her early career
Michelle’s Washington Post op ed piece
How a fortune teller impacted Michelle’s adoption
The connection between Made in Taiwan and Michelle’s short film, Bite
Michelle’s short film Nian
Michelle’s thoughts on motherhood and parenthood
The writing/directing projects that Michelle is working on
Michelle’s thoughts on the SAG-AFTRA strike
Michelle’s support for SB 805, a bill that supported funding for nonprofit theaters
How Michelle was affected by the BLM (Black Lives Matter) demonstrations that arose during the pandemic
Michelle’s advice to others who want to pursue acting or directing
Michelle’s connection to Taiwan

Taiwan Films Archives - Talking Taiwan Podcast

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The Real Life “Love in Taipei” Story: Virtuoso Musician Couple Antoine Boyer and Yeore Kim Ep 329

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Documentary Films on the Pandemic, Immigration, and Human Rights Issues: Our Talk with Taiwanese American Filmmaker Hsuan Yu Pan Ep 301

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The History of NATWA: Unique Contributions in Leadership and Sisterhood Ep 300

As you listen to this episode you’ll learn more about how NATWA meets its five point mission statement which is:

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“Decathalon” The Story of Taiwan’s Greatest Olympian: My Conversation with Award-Winning Journalist Mike Chinoy Ep 290

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Decathlon: The CK Yang & Rafer Johnson Story 奧運傳奇：楊傳廣與強森 | Full Documentary: https://youtu.be/usbdC5v3LX8?si=FgQKZkFaJh-eutGj

Invisible Nation: Director Vanessa Hope Discusses her Documentary About Tsai Ing-Wen’s Presidency Ep 284

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Isa Ho: Talks About her Career as a Photographer and her Westbeth Exhibit in NYC Ep 282

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Michelle Krusiec: Acclaimed Actor, Writer, and Director Talks About Dealing with Institutional Racism and her Sources of Inspiration Ep 279

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

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