Women Make Waves International Film Festival

  • Home
  • Film Archive
  • The Double Life of Li Xianglan

    • Program

    The Double Life of Li Xianglan

    CHEN Mei-Juin 2015 Taiwan Documentary b/w & color 60min Mandarin, Japanese Blu-ray
    This documentary traces the rise and fall of LI Xianglan, who deftly navigated the clash of nations to become one of Asia's biggest movie stars during World War II. A Manchurian born Japanese who could "pass" as Chinese, she was a propagandist's dream. She rose to fame in a series of Japanese romantic melodramas playing the Chinese girl who falls in love with a Japanese man. For a while it worked, but when Japan lost the war her cover was blown and she nearly faced a firing squad. Others who led double lives weren't so lucky. In the second part of the film we meet LI's friend, the Taiwanese-born, Japanese educated writer and filmmaker LIU Naou, was not so lucky. As the war raged, LIU chased his dream of directing feature films, first working with the Chinese, then the Japanese. But neither side trusted him and he ended up dead as a result. The film invites reflection on the nature
    of film, art, identity, gender and individual freedom.

    Director

    CHEN Mei-Juin

    Born in Taipei, Taiwan, CHEN received an MA in visual anthropology from USC. In 1993, she founded Lotus Films and embarked on a career as a documentary filmmaker, pursuing projects in Asia and the United States. Chen received the Most Outstanding Asian Artist Special Award from Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, and was honored by Women Make Film in the US; and the Silver Chris Award from Columbus International Film Festival, the oldest film festival in the U.S. As a woman who grew up in a traditionally patriarchal culture, she has long been fascinated by codes of male behavior. Her work has appeared in major film festivals and on TV stations around the world.

    Director's Statement ▾

    CHEN Mei-Juin
    • 2016《林北小舞》The Gangster's Daughter
    • 2015《李香蘭的世界》The Double Life of Li Xianglan
    • 2012《黑人功夫紀事》The Black Kungfu Experience
    • 2011《超級遊艇》Super Solar Yacht
    • 2008《不能說的江湖祕密》Taiwan's Kungfu Secrets
    • 2007《南管女子》Woman of the Southern Wind
    • 2002《少林尤里西斯》Shaolin Ulysses
    • 2000《梅蘭芳的世界》The Worlds of Mei Lanfang
    • 1994《好萊塢旅店》Hollywood Hotel

    Director/ 陳玫君CHEN Mei-Juin
    Producer/ 陳玫君CHEN Mei-Juin、Ned ANTHONY、林建享LIN Jien-Shiang
    Screenwriter/ 陳玫君CHEN Mei-Juin、Ned ANTHONY
    Cinematographer/ 王盈舜WANG Ying-Shun、黃安濂WONG Onlim、黃裕順HUANG Shuen
    Editor/ 陳玫君CHEN Mei-Juin、Paul BERTINO
    Sound/ Michael KOWALSKI
    Music/ 陳玫琪CHEN May-Tchi

    蓮花電影工作室 LOTUS FILMS
    陳玫君CHEN Mei-Juin
    meijuin@gmail.com

    回上頁