【Epochal Dialogue Series 3】Is Chan Missing Again? Chinese American Films 40 Years After

Date: 2024/4/29(Monday)

Time: 15:00-17:00 (GMT+8)

Venue: Lecture Hall, College of Liberal Arts, National Taiwan University

Sign-up Link: https://forms.gle/whKUJMJVD5QwMDSG8

**The speech is conducted in both Chinese and English interchangeably.

Topic: Is Chan Missing Again? Chinese American Films 40 Years After

Abstract: In the early 1980s, young Wayne Wang shot a low-budget black-and-white drama film, Chan is Missing (1982), in San Francisco, USA; all the actors and crew were Asian Americans. Two taxi drivers search for their friend, Chan, in San Francisco’s Chinatown, encountering interesting and highly characteristic characters from various walks of life, discussing their backgrounds, life experiences, and difficulties, but ultimately failing to find the missing person. Instead, they find a complex composite of the Chinese American community itself.

The film premiered at the New York New Directors/New Films Film Festival, where renowned film critic Vincent Canby highly praised its concept, its genuine and touching portrayal, and its unique humor, describing it as “a matchless delight.” At the time, film critics across the United States uniformly praised it. Chan is Missing was a breakthrough in art-house cinemas across major cities in the United States, becoming a renowned cult film and widely popular on university campuses.

Looking back now forty years later, Asian American cinema in the United States has changed and flourished, with an increasing number of talented Asian American filmmakers and actors. Chan is Missing pioneered new territory for future generations, serving as an unwavering milestone in Asian American cinema. It is the first Asian American film to be included in the Library of Congress National Film Registry.

Moderator: Hsien-hao Liao (Distinguished Professor, Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures; Dean, Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities and Social Sciences, National Taiwan University)

Speakers:

Wayne Wang (Hong Kong-American film director)
Peter Wang (Taiwanese film director, writer, actor)

Organizer: Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities and Social Sciences, NTU

Co-organizer: Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, NTU; Research Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences, National Science and Technology Council; National Taiwan University; ASE Cultural & Educational Foundation