Taipei, Sept. 9 (CNA) A film about female political prisoners held on a volcanic islet off Taiwan's eastern coast during martial law in the 1950s will hit the big screen across the nation on Oct. 28, its producer said Friday.
Titled "Untold Herstory (流麻溝十五號)," the period piece is based on the Chinese book "Bonfire Island: Untold Herstory," authored by Tsao Chin-jung (曹欽榮) and published in 2012, according to the film's production company that is run by former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Pasuya Yao (姚文智).
The book is a collection of interviews conducted by Tsao with women who had been held as political prisoners at the so-called "concentration camps" on Green Island in 1953.
A significant portion of the film was shot on locations around and in the current Green Island White Terror Memorial Park, which was once the Taiwan Lyudao Prison constructed and ran by the then Kuomintang (KMT) government during Taiwan's martial law period from 1949-1987.
The jail housed alleged political dissidents branded as "thought prisoners," who were sent to the outlying islet to undergo political and ideological reform through labor and violence disguised as training programs.
At a press event in August, the film's director Zero Chou (周美玲) and leading actresses Yu Pei-Jen (余佩真), Cindy Lien (連俞涵), and Herb Hsu (徐麗雯) all agreed that shooting a scene with death row inmates smiling for their final photo was the most challenging part of the film for them.
The scene is based on photographs of the jail, where a number of prisoners smiled at the camera before being led to their execution.
The director and actresses said it was difficult trying to dig deep and understand the meaning behind those smiles, as they might be eerie representations of despair, or brave acts of defiance.
In a statement released Friday, Yao, the film's producer, thanked supporters who responded to his company's crowdfunding initiative for the film.
A total of NT$12 million (US$388,733.22) has been raised since July 27, with the money helping make up for the financial hole left by initial investors who backed out either due to the COVID-19 pandemic or the sensitive subject the movie tackles, he said.
Yao founded film company thuànn TAIWAN after losing to incumbent Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) in the Taipei mayoral election in 2018. He had promised to leave politics behind if he lost.
