Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Taiwan's "Seediq Bale" gets nod for 68th Venice International Film Festival

Jerome F. Keating Ph.D.

A Taiwanese film, "Seediq Bale" has been selected to show at the 68th Venice International Film Festival. This film directed by Wei Te-sheng will aid in bringing the true history, plight and identity of Taiwan into the public's eye and indirectly put to the lie the claim that Taiwan is an inalienable part of the mythic Chinese motherland.

The film relates primarily to the Wushe Incident in Taiwan's history, an uprising by one of the indigenous tribes of Taiwan against Japanese colonial rule.

Unrest in China’s Xinjiang region leaves 10 dead

Taipei Times

China’s Xinjiang region was hit by a wave of violence at the weekend that saw 10 people killed by knife-wielding assailants and another four shot dead by police, state media and authorities said yesterday.

The unrest happened in the ancient Silk Road city of Kashgar in two separate attacks and local residents said yesterday the city center was under lockdown, with security forces patrolling the streets.

Xinjiang has seen several outbreaks of ethnic violence in recent years as the mainly Muslim Uighur minority bridles under what it regards as oppression by the Chinese government.

GIO protests ‘China, Taiwan’ label for movie at film fest

Taipei Times

The Government Information Office (GIO) has lodged a protest with the Venice Film Festival for labeling Seediq Bale (賽德克巴萊), which has been nominated for the Golden Lion award, a film made by “China, Taiwan” and demanded a correction.

Chu Wen-ching (朱文清), director of the GIO’s Motion Picture Affairs Department, said the protest was presented by the Taipei Representative Office in Italy on Friday.

FUNDING

ARS Film Production (果子電影公司), the producer of the film, also wrote a letter to the festival organizer, asking it to correct the name of the country of production. ARS said the film was not funded by China and did not employ Chinese actors.

Premier Wu is like Ma’s very own Wendi Deng

James Wang 王景弘

When a comedian tried to throw a plate of shaving foam at Rupert Murdoch during his testimony in the British parliament, Murdoch’s wife, Wendi Deng (鄧文迪), leapt at the perpetrator with the vigor of an American football player and hit him with the precision of a volleyball player going for the decisive smash, as the world held its breath.

Very Chinese, Deng’s reaction was different from how other people reacted: Murdoch and his son James did not try to evade the attack or hit back, while an assistant held out an arm to try to stop the attacker. Deng, however, did not try to stop the attack, but hit back, as if wanting to avenge her husband and prove that attack is the best defense.

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