In this episode of Talkin TIDF, Cameron and Stefanie speak with LEE Daw-ming, an award-winning filmmaker, scholar, and one of the most influential figures in documentary filmmaking in Taiwan. After studying in the United States, he returned in the early 1980s and played a key role in shaping the field’s development.

At TIDF 2026, the Reel Taiwan section, The Late 1980s on Film, presents four of his digitally restored works. In this conversation, Professor LEE reflects on how documentary in Taiwan evolved alongside technological change and the island’s transition out of martial law.

🎙️In this episode:

➤ What shaped documentary filmmaking in Taiwan in the 1960s and 1970s—and which international works influenced a generation?
➤ Why did 1985 become a “scandalous” year in Taiwan’s documentary history?
➤ How was Beyond the Killing Fields: Refugees at the Thai-Cambodian Border made, and how did synch sound transform documentary practice?
➤ What is your position on ethnographic filmmaking—and how do you view the Sensory Ethnographic Lab?
➤ What was it like to revisit and restore your films for Reel Taiwan?

🔗 Links & Show Notes

• TIDF 2026: Reel Taiwan｜The Late 1980s on Film
  https://www.tidf.org.tw/en/films/157633
• TIDF 2026: FOCUS programme｜“Sensible but Unsayable—A Retrospective of the Sensory Ethnography Lab”: https://www.tidf.org.tw/en/category/shows2026/
• LEE Daw-Ming Filmography: https://docs.tfai.org.tw/en/filmmakers/1864
• The Journey of Taiwan Cinema: from Taiwan New Cinema to post-New Cinema by LEE Daw-Ming (October 2018) : https://taiwaninsight.org/2018/10/31/the-journey-of-taiwan-cinema-from-taiwan-new-cinema-to-post-new-cinema/
• Taiwan Today, Taiwan Review “Voice of the People” (Sept 1996): https://taiwantoday.tw/AMP/Culture/Taiwan-Review/25093/Voice-of-the-People

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In this episode of Talkin’ TIDF, hosts Cameron and Stefanie are joined by TIDF programmer CHUNG Peihua, who oversees the festival’s non-competition sections. With years of experience at TIDF, she offers an insider’s perspective on two standout programmes: the Focus section “Sensible but Unsayable—A Retrospective of the Sensory Ethnography Lab” and the Taiwan Spectrum programme “War Memories, Shifting Identities,” discussing the curatorial thinking behind them and how they came together.

🎙️In this episode:

➤ What is the Sensory Ethnography Lab—and why was it selected as this year’s Focus programme?
➤ What sets SEL’s approach to ethnographic filmmaking apart?
➤ How were the films in this section chosen, and how do they connect to other parts of the TIDF programme?
➤ How did From Island to Island inspire the Taiwan Spectrum programme—and what new perspectives does it bring to Taiwan’s wartime and postwar history?

🔗 Links & Show Notes

• Focus Programme: Sensible but Unsayable—A Retrospective of the Sensory Ethnography Lab: https://www.tidf.org.tw/en/category/shows2026/
• Taiwan Spectrum: War Memories, Shifting Identities: https://www.tidf.org.tw/en/category/shows2026/
• Harvard Sensory Ethnography Lab: https://sel.fas.harvard.edu/
• From Island to Island – 2026 TIDF Screening: https://www.tidf.org.tw/en/films/157630
• From Island to Island – Review: https://asianmoviepulse.com/2025/02/documentary-review-from-island-to-island-2024-by-lau-kek-huat/

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Welcome back to Talkin’ TIDF, the English-language podcast of the Taiwan International Documentary Festival.

Hosts Cameron and Stefanie are joined by CHEN Wanling—one of TIDF’s most senior programmers and a key force behind its curatorial vision, with more than a decade of experience and deep knowledge of the documentary field.

From TIDF’s beginnings in 1998 to the ideas behind this year’s Focus programme, Palestine and Its Archiveless Archives, this episode goes straight to the heart of the festival.

🎙️ In this episode:

➤ What is Wanling’s own TIDF story?
➤ What did the documentary landscape look like when TIDF was founded in 1998?
➤ How did TIDF grow into one of Asia’s leading documentary platforms?
➤ What defines its curatorial philosophy and programme structure?
➤ How was Palestine and Its Archiveless Archives conceived?
➤ Finally: What are Wanling’s must-watch picks ?

🔗 Links & Show Notes

• Taiwan International Documentary Festival 2026: https://www.tidf.org.tw/en
• Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival: https://www.yidff.jp/
• TFAI’s online public film archive: https://vod.tfai.org.tw/
• Focus Programme: Palestine and Its Archiveless Archives: https://www.tidf.org.tw/en/category/shows2026/6059

🙋‍♀️Wanling’s picks:

- Kings and Extras: Digging for a Palestinian Image: https://www.tidf.org.tw/en/films/157575
Selection of three short films:
- Restored Pictures: https://www.tidf.org.tw/en/films/157570
- The Silent Protest 1929 Jerusalem: https://www.tidf.org.tw/en/films/157571
- Partition: https://www.tidf.org.tw/en/films/157572

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