The Other Side
Directed by Tsai Tsung-lung
When the borders between Taiwan and China were opened in the late 1980s, the first wave of imports into “the other side” ensued: over 280 thousand “China brides” and over 300 thousand Taiwanese Expats. The brides and businessmen carry with them hopes and dreams for a better life or, at the very least, a chance to start over. Yet what they know of the country that lies across the way is limited, and the stark reality that greets them is a rude awakening.
Further information about the documentary can be found at http://www.cnex.org.tw/cnex_en.php?id=138
16:00 Introduction by Dr Ming-yeh Rawnsley
16:15 Film screening
17:30 Roundtable discussion with Dr Isabelle Cheng & Dr Lara Momesso
All UoN students and staff are welcome and the event is free.
Dr Ming-yeh T. Rawnsley is Associate Fellow, China Policy Institute, University of Nottingham and Research Associate, Centre of Taiwan Studies, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London. She is also Secretary-General, European Association of Taiwan Studies (2012–present). She has published widely in both English and Chinese on the subjects of Taiwan cinema, Chinese cinema, media industries in East Asia and media, culture and democratization in Taiwan. Her most recent books include Routledge Handbook of Chinese Media (eds Gary Rawnsley, 2015), Framing Transdisciplinarity: Bridging Sciences and Humanities (eds Chi-mao Wang and Kung-pei Tang, 2015) and Discovering Taiwan Cinema (2015).
Dr Isabelle Cheng is a Lecturer in East Asian Studies at the School of Languages and Area Studies of the University of Portsmouth. She serves on the Board of the European Association of Taiwan Studies (EATS). She is a Research Associate of the Centre of Taiwan Studies of the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS). Her research concentrates on migration in East Asia and her latest research is on Chiang Kai-shek's war plan of retaking China.
Dr Lara Momesso recently completed her PhD degree with a thesis exploring the phenomenon of marriage migration across the Taiwan Strait not only in light of the development of cross-Strait diplomatic relations and Taiwan domestic politics but rather as the outcome of the intersection of macro, meso and micro factors that may produce significantly different experiences for those involved in the migration process. For the completion of her project she lived between London (as a PhD student at SOAS, University of London), Tuebingen (as a research fellow at the European Research Centre on Contemporary Taiwan, University of Tuebingen) and Taipei (where she did most of her ethnographic fieldwork and as a visiting student at National Taiwan University). After three terms as a lecturer on China and East Asian studies at the University of Portsmouth, School of Languages and Area Studies, she is now a Postdoctoral researcher at the same institution.