Film Screening: Song of the Reed PLUS dialogue with film director

Time: Friday 5 November, 12:00-14:00 Helsinki time (TWO full hours, including watching the documentary and discussing with the filmmaker)

Song of the Reed (watch the trailer here)

Director: Hsiu-Ching Wu/Taiwan/2013/76 min/In Mandarin, Taiwanese and Japanese with Chinese and English subtitles

“Song of the Reed” is a song of healing for the Taiwanese women who survived sexual slavery under the Japanese in World War II. This film documents how four Taiwanese ladies, all from different communities – Wu Hsiu-Mei, Chen Tao, Lin Shen Chung and Chen Lian-Hua – overcame grave physical and mental trauma and grew in their attitudes toward life, through 16 years of Physical and Mental Health Workshops. At the workshop, they revisited their wounds, released their rage, gazed at their aging selves, and reaffirmed their values.

“Song of the Reed” is a tune drifting through valleys, with a melody as soft and fleeting as the mountain breeze, but with a message as strong as a blowing storm. Those ladies sang a song that cannot be forgotten by the world.

In cooperation with Taipei Women’s Rescue Foundation and Professor Hsiu-Ching Wu (Department of Motion Pictures, National Taiwan University of Arts) we will show the 76-minute documentary online on 5 November 2021. After the screening Professor Wu will talk with the audience about her journey of making this documentary. Prof. Julie Yu-Wen Chen from University of Helsinki will serve as interpreter and moderator during the discussion event.

Previously this documentary has been screened in famous universities, such as University of Vienna in Europe and Harvard University in the USA. This will be the first time that the documentary is screened in Finland.

This event is co-hosted with Centre for East Asian Studies at the University of Turku.