‘Formosa Betrayed’ Debuts in Taiwan

Back in February, I blogged about the making of the film, Formosa Betrayed, the Hollywood production about Taiwan’s struggle for democracy. The film has been available on DVD in the United States since July, but more importantly, debuts this week in Taiwan! Producer and actor, Will Tiao, has been on a whirlwind media tour in Taiwan to promote the film. You can read Will’s fascinating account of his media tour and the film’s reception on his Formosa Betrayed blog. I am most interested to learn about how this American production is received by Taiwanese audiences. I remember while growing up, one of my aunts in America spoke about the KMT government having student spies in the United States to watch over outspoken Taiwanese Americans. Is this history widely known and acknowledged in Taiwan? How will my parents’ generation in Taiwan (including my aunts and uncles),  as well as my cousins’ generation reacting to the film? The film so far has pre-sold over NT$ 1.2 million  in tickets (Taiwan box office record is NT$ 2.0 million.)