London – 14/11/13 – Screening of documentary Madame Chiang Kai-shek: A Legend across three centuries with Q&A with Producer Lin Leh-chyun

Posted: November 14th, 2013 | No Comments »

A chance to this Taiwanese documentary in London and hear the director….

Screening of documentary Madame Chiang Kai-shek: A Legend across three centuries with Q&A with Producer Lin Leh-chyun

SOAS Centre of Taiwan Studies

14 November, Thursday 7.00-9.30pm, Khalili Lecture Theatre, College Building, 7pm

RSVP – email: df2@soas.ac.uk

“No woman in the west holds so great a position as Mme. Chiang Kai-shek holds in China.“

The first instalment of the Taiwan Film Screening Programme is the acclaimed Public Television Service documentary on the legendary Madame Chiang. The two-part documentary, with recently revealed declassified archives on her fascinating life, embraces stories that cover Taiwan, China, Hong Kong as well as the United States.

Soong May-ling’s life is closely entwined with modern history. But even in her later years, she refused to write her memoirs. This documentary is the only window on her life that crosses three centuries, disclosing in-depth coverage of how this legendary woman has affected the destiny of China and the world.

Part I: East and West   

Synopsis 

The first part begins with the early years of Soong May-ling and her family who had risen to prominence at the start of the 20th century. At the age of ten, she went to study in the United States, where she became deeply imbued with Western (American) culture.

After marrying Chiang Kai-shek, the couple led a China embroiled in years of war and political intrigue. In 1936, Chiang was kidnapped by one of his own generals. In what came to be known as the Xi’an Incident, Soong May-ling placed herself in personal danger to save her own husband, and for a moment brought China back from the brink of civil war.

It was during the Second World War, that the personality of Soong May-ling truly began to emerge in the West. She had travelled to the US to lobby support for the war effort. Speaking (with her famous southern American accent), before the U.S. Congress, she roused the passion of the whole United States.

Part 2: The Exile Years

The second part of the documentary follows Soong May-ling to Taiwan with the Chinese Nationalist Government. In public she stood out as the distant and mysterious “Madame Chiang”. In Taiwan she not only continued her role in foreign affairs, but also devoted her time to work with women and charitable causes. However in private, the documentary examines her often fractious relations with her stepson Chiang Ching-kuo, and her efforts to safeguard the legacy of the Republic of China. At the death of President Chiang Ching-kuo in 1988, Taiwan entered a new political era, under a new president, Lee Teng-hui. At the same time Soong May-ling finally decided to retire from the political stage.

Leh-Chyun Lin is the Director of the International Department and Chief of Documentary Platform of the Public Television Service in Taiwan. After receiving his master’s degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia, School of Journalism, he began working as a print journalist in New York and Hong Kong. Over the past 20 years, he has worked as a producer, programme director, production director, news director, and contents director for commercial and public television, as well as in the Internet industry in Taiwan.

He has produced biographical documentaries on Madam Chiang Kai-shek (宋美齡), Sun Li-jen (孫立人) (one of the most celebrated Kuomintang generals of the Second World War), and Lee Teng-hui (李登輝). His production honours, amongst others, include George Foster Peabody Awards, CINE Golden Eagle Award, and Asian Television Awards.

Leh-Chyun Lin is also an Adjunct Professional Expert of the Graduate Institute of Journalism, National Taiwan University.

 

 

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