The Cheng Yu Tung East Asian Library at the University of Toronto successfully hosted two public events related to Taiwan films. On Nov. 7, 2017, there was the Taiwan Lecture on Chinese Studies: Taiwan Cinema and the Spectre of the Martial Law by Prof. Ru-Shou Robert Chen. This event was part of the Taiwan Resource Centre for Chinese Studies program under the partnership between the University of Toronto Libraries and the National Central Library in Taiwan. This program runs a series of Taiwan Lecture on Chinese Studies, presenting new Sinological scholarship and facilitating further academic exchange between Taiwan and Canada. The keynote speaker, Dr. Chen is the processor at the Department of Radio & Television of the National Chengchi University in Taiwan. After his talk, Prof. Bart Testa, Innis College and Cinema Studies Institute, University of Toronto, provided his response to Prof. Chen’s paper.
On Nov. 8, the Taiwan Short Films Screening with Discussions was also hosted by the Cheng Yu Tung East Asian Library. The event was organized in partnership with the Windows of Formosa Film Festival, Taiwan. All the short films that we will be screening today are generously provided by the Windows of Formosa Film Festival group. A total of five short films were selected and screened: Mother’s Day, The Door, Post-Human, The Lonely Time and Snail School. After the film screening, Prof. Ru-Shou Robert Chen and Prof. Bart Testa provided commentaries on the films and answered questions from the audience. This was the second Taiwan film screening event that the Cheng Yu Tung East Asian Library hosted. In 2016, the library hosted a documentary screening of Prof. Hu Tai-Li’s film “Returning Souls” portraying Indigenous Taiwanese cultures, in partnership with the North American Taiwan Studies Association (NATSA).
Both events were co-hosted by the Global Taiwan Studies Program at the University of Toronto. The events were attended by Catherine Hsu, Director-General of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO), Toronto and Alicia Wang, Director, as well as many local Taiwanese-Canadian community members.
Attendees of the event, including leaders of the Taiwanese communities, gather for a group photo.
Five Taiwanese short films are screened and discussed during the event.
DG Hsu gives her remarks during the event.
Dr. Liau Jane gives a brief introduction of the Taiwan Resource Centre for Chinese Studies program to the audience during the event.