Taiwan Black Movies
台灣黑電影 (2005, Documentary, 61 minutes)
In Mandarin and Taiwanese with English subtitles
This incisive documentary brings back to life a Taiwanese film genre that was given up for dead. In the early 1980s, a time of strict censorship and political repression in Taiwan, an unexpected trend in “social realist” crime films suddenly flourished in the corner of exploitation cinema. However, the “social realism” here is a euphemistic description for what is really a B-film genre, which exploited both sex and violence. Given momentum by sensational dramas featuring female avengers, these films marked an interesting counterpoint to the rise of Taiwan New Cinema, the definitive new wave movement in Taiwan's film history.
This documentary comprises fragments from many of these now untraceable films, alongside interviews with the filmmakers who were involved.
2006 International Film Festival Rotterdam
2005 Taipei Film Festival
2005 Tokyo International Film Festival
Director: HOU Chi-Jan