[Free Film Screening] Super Citizen Ko (1994) with Dr. Sylvia Li-chun Lin

Join us on APRIL 25, 6:30 (Pacific) at UW Kane Hall 210. IN-PERSON ONLY.

Introduction by and post-screening discussion with Dr. Sylvia Li-chun Lin, author of Representing Atrocity in Taiwan: The 2/28 Incident and White Terror in Fiction and Film.

Super Citizen Ko 超級大國民 (WAN Jen 萬仁, 1994)

1994 ∣ 120min ∣ Color ∣ feature film ∣ Mandarin, Hokkien, with English subtitles

The film narrates the political history of Taiwan over a period of 50 years, following the imposition of martial law in 1947 and ‘The White Terror.’ Suspected of being a leftist, KO spent around 30 years in prison and institutions, always obsessively worrying about the fate of his best friend CHEN executed in the 1950s. Their friendship and CHEN’s fate is chronicled in flashback. Soon after his release, KO goes in search of the truth and a part of himself. Only when he learns the truth is he able to pay his respects.

This intense and sad film depicts the mind of KO as he wanders back and forth through time and space, history and the city, memory, and reality. Using an idealistic political prisoner from the 50s to form a poignant contrast with the corrupt politicians of the 90s, WAN thrusts the motifs of “introspection” and “redemption” to the poetic summit using thick and heavy brushstrokes, resulting in a great artistic achievement.

Speakers

Sylvia Li-chun Lin, formerly Associate Professor of Chinese at the University of Notre Dame, is currently a free-lance translator. In her previous incarnation, she conducted research on literary journals and culture of the Republican era, language and identity in Taiwan, and commemoration of government atrocity. Her publications include Representing Atrocity in Taiwan: The 2/28 Incident, White Terror in Fiction and Film, and essays on documentary films.

Sponsored by the UW Taiwan Studies Arts & Culture Program, the 228 Memorial Foundation (Taiwan), the UW Tateuchi East Asia Library, the Taiwanese Association of Greater Seattle (TAGS), and the Culture Center of Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Seattle, U.S.A.