Documentary | English, Mandarin w/English Subtitles | DVD
Director/Producer: Anita Wen-Shin Chang
Ethnicity: Taiwanese
Subjects: Family, History, Personal Stories
Asking her grandmother what advice she has for young people, filmmaker Anita Chang receives a simple reply: “Politics!” Despite a third stroke and a century of struggle, “Democratic Grandma” remains true to the ideals that earned her acclaim and a memorable nickname in Taiwan. However, she also knows that progress exacts a price – a realization rendered vividly and with poignant candor in Chang’s portrait of her headstrong “Ama.” Tracing the parallel threads of her female relatives’ stories, Chang uncovers revelations of political persecution while focusing on the struggle to maintain – and sometimes resist – the bonds of filial traditions. A mesmerizing and provocative meditation on history making and the post-colonial condition, this dynamic documentary intimately depicts what it means to be a part of a family, a nation and a world in constant upheaval.