Beyond the Anti-DuPont Movement: Portraits of Some Social Activists

Following the lifting of martial law in 1987, Taiwan entered democratisation as grassroots movements flourished. Proposed by director Lee Daw-ming and funded     by the Public Television Service, the film interviews key figures shaped by the Lukang Anti-DuPont Movement. Intended for broadcast, the film was suppressed by authorities and finally screened at the 2002 Taiwan International Documentary Festival.

Lee Daw-ming: ‘Beyond the Anti-DuPont Movement: Portraits of Some Social Activists was filmed while the movement was still ongoing, but I chose not to film the protests themselves, as the Green Team was already covering them. Why repeat what others were already documenting? Besides, I was shooting on film, which made real-time circulation (as they were doing) impossible. I was clear that my aim was to leave a historical record, not to transmit images immediately like television. This is why this film is a “documentary”, not a form of social communication.’