Heidelberg University: Details of event: Filmreihe Kevin Lee

Back to Events of Tuesday 17th July 2018

Tuesday
17
JUL

05:00 PM

Filmreihe Kevin Lee

Kevin Lee

Self-Censorhip

Di / 17.07. / 17:00 SCREENING
Unveil the Truth I：Government Virus
Taiwan 2011 / Regie: Kevin H.J. Lee / 65 min.
In his 2011 不能戳的秘密Ⅰ:政府病毒 Unveil the Truth I: The Government Virus, Lee uncovers the cover up of bird flu in Taiwan. Over the past few years, Lee has earned a lot of respect for his seriesUnveil the Truth. He is recognized for his thorough research, perseverance, and his bravery of revealing how Taiwanese bureaucrats shield one another to the public.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Di / 17.07. / 18:15 SCREENING
Unveil the Truth II: State Apparatus
Taiwan 2013 / Regie: Kevin H.J. Lee / 84 min.

2013 不能戳的秘密II：國家機器 Unveil the Truth II: State Apparatus won the Grand Prize and best documentary at the 2014 Taipei Film Awards. The jury considered that the film maintained an uplifting and humorous tone, while exposing the chaotic madness of government bureaucracy, thus illustrating the dark side of Taiwanese society. Currently, Kevin Lee is working on Unveil the Truth III.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Di / 17.07. / 19:45 ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION
Filmgespräch mit Kevin Lee und Wennie Liu

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Di / 17.07. / 20:30 SCREENING
The Taste of Apple
Taiwan 2016 / Regie: Kevin H.J. Lee / 119 min.

In 2015 蘋果的滋味 The Taste of Apple which, in 2016, won the Taipei Film Award ceremony, Kevin Lee celebrates the existence of freedom of speech in Taiwan: “I realized how much of an impact “Apple” (nickname of the Next Media, a Hong Kong media corporation entered Taiwan,) has on Taiwanese readers’ reading habit, and how it changed the traditional media ecology in Taiwan.” Through long-term on-field observations at Next Media’s office, as well as interviewing Next Media’s founder Mr. Jimmy LAI Chee-ying, this film covers the ups and downs of Taiwan’s media industry over the past decade after Next Media, including the “paparazzi culture” it brought with it came to Taiwan. “I dedicated the film to GAO Yu (a Chinese reporter) because I think The Taste of Apple shows a ridiculous status. China is a country without democracy freedom, but they have GAO Yu, a reporter who’s willing to go to jail numerous times just to tell the truth. On the other hand, Taiwan is a free and democratic country, but reporters only do news that sell and with ad placements. And then ‘Apple’ comes along that doesn’t do ad placement news, but it is blamed because the news they produce is sensationalized. However, when “Apple” is close to being sold to a pro-China businessman, you start to hear voices saying that we must defend the freedom of the press for ‘Apple.’ It’s quite ironic.” In addition to deconstructing the development of Next Media in Taiwan, The Taste of Apple reflects the abnormal development of Taiwanese media and the casual adoption of self-censorship in the face of China and self-interests. When Taiwan’s freedom of the press must rely on a Hong Kong-based media group criticised as "sensationalist" for its defence, we are truly witnessing the greatest ironies.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Do / 19.07. / 19:30
Self-Censorship
Taiwan 2017 / Regie: Kevin H.J. Lee / 117 min.

with an introduction by the Director, Kevin H.J. Lee and Wennie Liu

2018 并：控制 Self-Censorship
When at the 2016 Taipei Film Award ceremony, the director Kevin Lee, just having won the Press Award for his film The Taste of Apple, in his acceptance speech, he thanked the existence of freedom of speech in Taiwan, he also publicly criticized the Chinese government’s thought-control policies on the subjects of Taiwanese independence, Tibet, Xinjiang and the Falun Gong. This outpouring inadvertently became the inspiration for his next film, Self-censorship. The majority of the project’s production costs were acquired via internet crowdfunding, which garnered the support of 668 sponsors. With an additional subsidy from the National Culture and Arts Foundation, the film was able to be completed in its entirety. Self-censorship begins by depicting a series of protests by the Beijing artist, Hua Yong, which eventually led to his arrest and imprisonment by the Chinese government. It subsequently moves to the mysterious disappearances of five shareholders from Causeway Bay Books in Hong Kong, and then onto incidents involving Chou Tzi-yu, Leon Dai and Lee Ming-che. It thoroughly, and in great detail, exposes the Chinese government’s pervasive control over “Greater Chinese” society. The Taiwanese may think that they unlike Hong Kongers, the Chinese government cannot take any actions against them because they live in Taiwan and are not celebrities. However, the director’s journeys between China, Hong Kong and Taiwan prove that even the fate of a grouper breeder is determined by the whims of the Chinese government. Unless you have chosen to reject the financial temptations offered by the Chinese government and are determined to live as your own person and as a free individual, you will have no chance escaping from their control and your own self-censorship.