An Interview with Filmmaker Fiona Roan: Reflections on Sisterhood and Belonging

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Fiona Feng-I Roan is a Taiwanese American writer and filmmaker based in Los Angeles. TaiwaneseAmerican.org’s Ho Chie Tsai recently caught up with her to talk about her new short film, JIEJIE, which was recently selected as one of three finalists in the HBO Asian Pacific Visionary American short film competition. It will also be distributed nationally through HBO this May, during Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. JIEJIE is a portrait of young sisters being raised by a single immigrant…

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Taiwan Films at CAAMFest 2018

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TaiwaneseAmerican.org is pleased to support the premier Asian American Film Festival in the San Francisco/Bay Area. CAAM Fest, the Center for Asian American Media’s annual festival features not only amazing works in film, TV, and digital media, but now also includes showcases in music and food. This year, their events and screenings are scheduled all throughout May to coincide with Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. We proudly co-present both a feature film about groundbreaking Taiwanese…

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The Life Story: An Interview with Author Julia Lin

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We recently came across Taiwanese Canadian author Julia Lin’s recently published book, Shadows of the Crimson Sun: One Man’s Life in Manchuria, Taiwan, and North America. This biography of Dr. Charles Yang, a community leader and activist living in Vancouver, Canada, caught our attention because of the unique formative experiences that shaped his perspectives and life of activism. At the same time, his story echoed many of the experiences of the first generation Taiwanese who immigrated throughout…

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Chris Pang: Upcoming Crazy Rich Asian and Certified Haiku Hottie

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When actor Chris Pang was a kid growing up in Melbourne, Australia, he remembers he and his mother would act out wuxia stories in their backyard. His mom would be the Grandmaster, and he would be her student, but inevitably then the bad guys would poison the Grandmaster, and he'd have to fight to avenge her. "I loved that," he says. "That's probably how I learned how to tell stories, not just on the page but through action and role-play." Pang, who will soon be seen in the highly-anticipated…

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For the (Re)Cord: An Interview with Leona Chen

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[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="1050"] Book of Cord coverage in World Journal, article by Emily Lin, book photography by Tinfish Press, family portrait by Andy Kuno[/caption] Leona Chen is the author of Book of Cord, her debut poetry collection from Tinfish Press. The poems tackle family, culture, language, migration and history in a non-prescriptive way, relying instead on emotions embedded in precise, culturally coded details--quotidian (but not ordinary) objects such as tiger balm,…

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Grateful for Family & Friends #TaiwaneseThanksgiving

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WE'RE GRATEFUL FOR YOU! And for what our Taiwanese American heritage and culture have given us... especially how it influences our American holiday traditions and food experiences. We asked for your photos showing how you celebrate #TaiwaneseThanksgiving, and we were impressed! Check out some of the submissions below. #TaiwaneseThanksgiving This American holiday is all about spending time with and appreciating family, and when you get together, you've got to take a photo... It's a given…

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Harvest Moons and Autumn Flowers

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"I don’t know how the moon looked where you were last night, but from the curb where I stood, a few paces away from the auto repair shop and the two men tamping down the embers of their barbecue, the moon was round and luminous and haunting, and it glowed even through the quick-flitting clouds. Last night’s moon-gazing was for the Mid-Autumn Festival. That means it’s fully autumn, and it’s time to unveil a project I’ve been working on for the past year." About 12 hours after Kevin…

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Who Is Arthur Chu? Villain, Hero, or Anti-Hero?

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In 2014, I spoke with filmmaker Yu Gu (顾雨) and her co-director, Scott Drucker, as they were gearing up to follow Arthur Chu for his appearance in the Tournament of Champions on Jeopardy! as a part of their documentary, Who is Arthur Chu?. The film centers on this fellow Taiwanese American, who translated his notoriety from the game show into a being a critical voice on issues of social justice and pop culture. After following the film’s progress, I drove up on a rainy day to speak with Gu…

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When the World Met Taiwan: A Taiwanese Opera

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In the 17th century, the Dutch East & West India Companies launched their simultaneous exploration of the Americas and Asia. While the Dutch West India Company built "New Amsterdam" on Manhattan Island, New York, "Fort Zeelandia" was established in today’s Tâilâm (Tainan in Mandarin), Taiwan under the rule of the Dutch East India Company. When The World Met Taiwan "Koeh Hoâi-it" is a Broadway-style Taiwanese Opera that tells the story of a historical turning point of different ethnic groups…

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Summer Language Camps in Taiwan: Five Firsthand Accounts

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Thinking of sending your children to Taiwan to study Chinese but don’t know where to begin? In this article, we profile five Taiwanese-American families, detailing their language-learning goals, which camps they chose, and their recommendations and tips for others looking to do the same. (Side note: If you’re in Taiwan and have time to kill while your kid is at camp, read this article: 9 Beef Noodle Soup Restaurants to Try While Your Child is at Summer Camp in Taipei) First-Timers - Cathy Cathy…

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