Lau Kek-Huat (Malaysia/Taiwan) is a filmmaker working in both fiction and documentary. His films have been selected for the Busan International Film Festival, the Golden Horse Awards, and Cannes Cinéfondation’s Atelier, and have received major honours, including the Golden Horse Award for Best Documentary Feature for From Island to Island and the Taipei Film Awards Grand Prize.
From Island to Island
Taiwan was part of the Japanese Empire during World War II. This documentary, tackling this subject for the first time, endeavors to unearth and reorganize the hidden memories of World War II in Taiwan. It explores the experiences of Taiwanese soldiers and doctors within the Japanese Empire, as well as overseas Taiwanese living in Southeast Asia. The film begins with a son’s question to his father. Through cross-generational memory dialogues, family letters, diaries, and videos among family members, the film addresses the complexities of Taiwan’s historical memory and the various identities that existed during this period.