“Untold Herstory” (流麻溝十五號), a recent film about female political prisoners on Green Island during the martial law period, is now available to stream online for the first time. The film, which draws on oral history accounts, is the first to tell of the White Terror period through the female experience.
Directed by Zero Chou (周美玲), “Untold Herstory” ranked third at Taiwan’s box offices in 2022, and has been translated into English by Cheng Chun-i (鄭純宜). The film not only recalls the chilling atmosphere of not being able to speak out during the authoritarian period but also emphasizes the role of women during the White Terror, which has often been neglected in the past.
The film’s producer, Pasuya Yao (姚文智), said many elderly Taiwanese abroad at overseas film festivals, some of whom were descended from political victims, shared they were extremely moved after watching the film. They said that after waiting for 30 or 40 years, they finally saw a film that told the story of their parents’ generation.
Pasuya says that after the film’s initial release in cinemas in 2022, they chose to launch it on Taiwan’s English-language media platform TaiwanPlus, in the hope of drawing in more people to understand Taiwan’s history. He says he hopes TaiwanPlus can represent free speech and tell Taiwan’s story to the world, free of taboos.