From Island to Island《由島至島》(2024)
Directed by LAU Kek-Huat
290 mins, Taiwanese, Hakka, Hokkien, English, Japanese, Malay, English and Chinese subtitles

During World War II, Taiwan was part of the Japanese Empire. This documentary explores the experiences of Taiwanese soldiers, doctors, and overseas residents in Southeast Asia during that time. Using cross-generational memory dialogues, family letters, diaries, and videos, the film addresses the complexities of Taiwan's historical memory and diverse identities during that period.

AWARDS
2024 Taipei Film Awards — Best Film of the Year, Best Documentary
2024 Best Documentary, Best Sound, Taipei Golden Horse Award
2025 Cinema at Sea, Jury Award, Audience Choice Award

PANEL DISCUSSION
Colonised Combatants: Taiwanese Soldiers in Southeast Asia during the Second World War
This post-screening panel explores the historical memory of the Second World War through the experiences of Taiwanese who served in the Japanese imperial army in Southeast Asia. It examines the paradox of shared colonial subjugation, as Taiwanese and Southeast Asian communities—despite similar experiences under empire—often met as opposing wartime actors. Tracing these entangled histories, the discussion reflects on the lasting impact of Japan’s wartime violence and its ongoing resonance in historical memory across Asia and beyond.

SPEAKERS
Robert Cribb is Emeritus Professor of Asian History at the Australian National University. In recent years, he has written extensively on war crimes carried out by Japanese soldiers during the Second World War in Asia and on the war crimes trials conducted by Allied powers after the war. He is author (with Sandra Wilson, Beatrice Trefalt and Dean Aszkielowicz) of Japanese War Criminals: The Politics of Justice After the Second World War (2017) and (with Sandra Wilson) Twelve Japanese War Criminals and One Who Got Away (2026).

Tessa Morris-Suzuki is Professor Emerita in the School of History, Culture and Language at the ANU College of Asia and the Pacific. Her work focuses on the modern history of East Asia, with a particular focus on Japan and Korea. Her research explores themes of memory and reconciliation in East Asia, and of the role of art in the representation of culture, nature and war. Her current projects include research on the social and environmental impact of commercial whaling in the nineteenth century Pacific and the representations of "The East", nature and war in the work of the twin artists Edward and Maurice Detmold.

Li Narangoa is a Professor in the School of History, Culture and Language, Director of Mongolia Institute, at the ANU College of Asia and the Pacific. She specialises in modern Japanese and Mongolian history, culture, and politics, with research interests spanning empires, nationalism, and traditional knowledge systems in Northeast Asia. Her current projects explore memories of the Mongol invasions of Japan and the transmission of traditional Mongolian medicine.

LAU Kek-Huat is Malaysia-born filmmaker based in Taiwan. His debut film, Boluomi (2019), which explores Malaysia's forbidden history and Taiwan’s immigrant society, won the Excellent Screenplay Award in Taiwan in 2013 and was nominated Best New Director at the Golden Horse Awards 2019. His documentary, From Island to Island (2024), won the Best Documentary Feature in the Golden Horse Awards, Taipei Film Festival and TIDF in 2024. His latest feature film, The Waves Will Carry Us (2025), explores identity and cultural conflict when a Taiwanese-based man, Ah Yao, returns to Malaysia for his father's funeral.

MODERATOR
Ying Xin Show is Senior Lecturer at the School of Culture, History and Language and Director of the ANU Malaysia Institute in the ANU College of Asia and the Pacific. Her work explores the history and culture of migration, decolonisation, and the impact of the Cold War on Asian societies through literature and the arts.

Light lunch and afternoon tea provided. Should you require a personal emergency evacuation plan, please contact ciw@anu.edu.au.

From Island to Island screening is a partnership between the ANU Taiwan Studies Program, Australian Centre on China in the World, and ANU Malaysia Institute. The ANU Taiwan Studies Program is a collaboration between ANU College of Asia and the Pacific and the Ministry of Education, Republic of China (Taiwan).

Photo supplied by 蜂鳥影像有限公司 Hummingbird Production.

Contact the host of Film Screening + Panel Discussion | From Island to Island 《由島至島》

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