Peace Memorial Day is not only a public holiday—it is also an opportunity to step into history through cinema. To celebrate this year’s Peace Memorial Day long weekend (February 27-March 1, 2026), the Taiwan Film and Audiovisual Institute (TFAI) will present free screenings of four films centered on “White Terror”: WAN Jen’s Super Citizen Ko (1995); LIN Cheng Sheng’s March of Happiness (1999), set on the eve of Taiwan’s infamous February 28 Incident; Argentina’s The Trial (2023), which documents a critical moment of transitional justice in Latin America; and Brazil’s I’m Still Here, winner of Best International Feature Film at the 97th Academy Awards. Through these powerful stories that span centuries and borders, TFAI hopes to open up a space for more meaningful dialogue.
Recent online discussions in Taiwan strongly recommend pairing a recent box office hit The Foggy Tale with Super Citizen Ko, the second installment in WAN Jen’s “Taiwan Trilogy.” Through fictional characters and narrative, Super Citizen Ko accurately recreates the climate of fear that gripped Taiwan in the 1950s. The protagonist, KO, is arrested by the Taiwan Garrison Command and subjected to brutal torture. Forced to confess, he implicates his fellow activist friend, CHEN, who is subsequently executed. On his way to the execution ground, CHEN raises his hands to form the numbers “two” and “one,” signifying Article 2, Paragraph 1 of the Betrayers Punishment Act—an iconic moment in the history of Taiwanese cinema that must be revisited each year on Peace Memorial Day.
Directed by LIN Cheng-sheng, March of Happiness interweaves a fictional love story with the historical February 28 Incident. At the “Tianma Teahouse” café, a tender romance quietly blossoms between teenage troupe performers A Jin and A Yu. But just as they plan to leave home together in pursuit of a hopeful future, they become entangled in a clash between police and civilians over a crackdown on illicit cigarette sales, and are swept into the tide of history. Featuring an all-star cast led by LIM Giong and HSIAO Shu-shen, with Leon DAI, LUNG Shao-hua, CHEN Shu-fang, and Yeh Tien-lun in supporting roles, March of Happiness transports audiences back to the scene of the incident.
The White Terror was not unique to Taiwan. In Argentina, notorious military dictators with blood on their hands were ultimately brought to justice within their lifetimes. Winner of the Grand Prize in the International Competition at the 2024 Taiwan International Documentary Festival, The Trial distills 530 hours of courtroom footage into a powerful chronicle of the 1985 trial, in which the newly elected civilian government prosecuted former military junta leaders and nine high-ranking military officers. Survivors and their families take the witness stand, trembling as they recount the disappearance of thousands, the rape of women, schools turned into torture centers, and the “death flights” in which victims were thrown from airplanes into valleys and the sea. More than 40 years later, from across the Pacific, we come to understand how the authoritarian structure of complicity behind South America’s indelible “Dirty War” took shape, and how transitional justice allows both the dead and the living to find a measure of peace.
Following Central Station, Brazilian filmmaker Walter SALLES once again garnered Academy Award recognition with I’m Still Here. Amid the sunlit ease of beachside life and the laughter of her husband and children, Eunice believed her happiness would last forever. She never imagined that in 1971, during the sweeping purge of Brazil’s military dictatorship, her husband Rubens would be “forcibly disappeared,” upending her radiant life overnight. I’m Still Here portrays a wife, a mother, a woman bearing the weight of White Terror, resiliently holding her family together while continuing to offer love and hope to the next generation, inspiring audiences with her courage.
All four films will be screened free of charge during the Peace Memorial Day long weekend. For more information, please visit the TFAI official website: https://tfaitw.pse.is/8qvc7n
➤ Super Citizen Ko uses fictional characters and narrative to accurately recreate the climate of fear in 1950s Taiwan. (Courtesy of TFAI)
➤ March of Happiness is headlined by an all-star cast. From left: LIM Giong, YEH Tien-lun, HSIAO Shu-shen. (Eagle International Communication Co., Ltd.)
➤ March of Happiness is set against the backdrop of “Tianma Teahouse,” the flashpoint of the February 28 Incident. (Eagle International Communication Co., Ltd.)
➤ The Trial distills 530 hours of courtroom footage. (Impronta Films)
➤ The Trial depicts South America’s indelible “Dirty War.” (Impronta Films)
➤ Brazilian director Walter SALLES won the Oscar for Best International Feature Film for I’m Still Here. (Hooray Films)
➤ I’m Still Here is set against the backdrop of the White Terror under Brazil’s 1971 military dictatorship. (Hooray Films)