Cinema and Censorship in Authoritarian Taiwan

Freedom of expression is a fundamental human right, but it is a hard-won right. In the past, films had to be censored before they were screened in cinemas in Taiwan.

Some subject matters were banned from viewership, forbid to be produced, and kept from people's minds. Many foreign movies were screened with scenes pixelated, blacked out or adapted. In the last instance their dialogues and plots were directly cut or manipulated.

The exhibition revisits the omnipresent film censorship system and questions: what exactly is the censorship system which suppressed our freedom of expression? What films were banned by the authoritarian regime? How did Taiwanese people cope with the life under censorship? How did we manage to step by step claim back freedom of expression?

The exhibition invites you to explore the nature and boundaries of freedom of expression through the lens of cinema and sharpen your sensitivity to detect "censorship moments," by unlocking visions and minds which were once shackled by the censorship system.