Posts from No Man Is an Island

“A Light Never Goes Out” Celebrates Hong Kong’s Iconic Neon Signs

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"A Light Never Goes Out" is a spirited look into the craftsmen who build and maintain Hong Kong’s iconic neon signs. Though the film’s plot is somewhat boilerplate, it has beautiful cinematography, and demonstrates a genuine love for its subject

From No Man Is an Island
On December 3, 2022
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What’s in a Sheet of Paper?

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On China's 'white paper revolution'

From No Man Is an Island
On November 29, 2022
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Aesthetics and Politics in 2022 Campaigning

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This year's election continued much of the same aesthetic tropes as previous elections. As with past years, it was the DPP that focused on aesthetics that could outreach to young people, and maintained the modernist aesthetic that has characterized pan-Green campaign advertising since the Tsai administration took power. While the KMT has significantly modernized its aesthetic in recent years, it is still the DPP that proved the more experimental in election advertising

From No Man Is an Island
On November 25, 2022
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Murder, Corruption, and Plagiarism: An Election Cycle Characterized by Scandal

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Many races have boiled down to the personalities running for office, rather than their policies.

From No Man Is an Island
On November 23, 2022
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Who Are This Year’s Fringe Candidates in the Taipei Mayoral Race?

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The Taipei mayoral race saw twelve candidates this year. The three serious candidates are, of course, Chen Shih-chung of the DPP, Chiang Wan-an of the KMT, and Vivian Huang of the TPP. It remains unclear as to which of them may win, with a tight three-way race anticipated. At the same time, as the nation’s capital, Taipei often attracts a number of fringe mayoral candidates. This was no different this year, with the views of these candidates on display at the four-hour policy platform held by the Central Election Commission, in which all of the candidates were given thirty minutes to express their views

From No Man Is an Island
On November 18, 2022
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“Therapy Dogs” Offers a Cleverly Stylized Depiction of High School

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Therapy Dogs is a creatively stylized take on high school, following two friends in their senior year. Though the film is unlikely to appeal to all viewers, given its deliberately disjointed narrative, it manages to capture something of the nihilism–and violence–of wayward teenagers

From No Man Is an Island
On November 16, 2022
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“100 Ways to See Transgender” Exhibition Shares a Wide Range of Transgender Experiences

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This past weekend, over 200 participants came to see the Taiwan Alliance to Promote Civil Partnership Rights’ (TAPCPR) "看見跨性別藝文展 100 Ways to See Transgender" exhibition at 二空間 SPACE TWO. Since their first Transgender Film Festival in 2020, TAPCPR has made it a tradition to do larger scale public engagement programming around transgender issues every year in the month of November. Last year was the second Transgender Film Festival, and this year is the 100 Ways to See Transgender exhibition

From No Man Is an Island
On November 11, 2022
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“Mountain Woman” Depicts Human Cruelty and Desperation in a Japanese Village

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With its story about an outcast family, “Mountain Woman” explores humanity’s darkness against a beautiful backdrop of Japan’s countryside

From No Man Is an Island
On November 4, 2022
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Taiwan’s Founding Mothers?: Untold Herstory

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If America needs more 1619 stories than it does 1776 ones, then Taiwan needs more stories about 228 and the White Terror.

From No Man Is an Island
On October 11, 2022
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The Cross-Straits Politics of Global Panda Health

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Tuan Tuan, one of four giant pandas displayed in the Taipei Zoo, has become ill with brain lesions.

From No Man Is an Island
On October 7, 2022
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Fake It Real Examines the Relation Between Truth and Fiction in the Age of Disinformation

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The exhibition concerns itself with the spread of fake news and disinformation globally, featuring works reflecting both Taiwanese and international artists.

From No Man Is an Island
On October 5, 2022
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Jiufen Old Street: A 2022 Pandemic Profile from a Taiwanese American Tourist

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If you've heard of Jiufen, you might know it is the site of filming for many Taiwanese movies, most notably City of Sadness. You might have heard it has wonderful teahouses, and maybe from a friend you heard to try the taro balls there. But you probably first and foremost know it as where Hayao Miyazaki allegedly drew inspiration from in Spirited Away.I

From No Man Is an Island
On September 21, 2022
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Rainie Yang Controversy Prompts Netizens to React by Posting Photos of Seafood on Social Media

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A recent scandal involved singer Rainie Yang (楊丞琳) claiming not to be Taiwanese, but a “Guangdong person that grew up in Taiwan” on a Chinese program. Yang claimed this despite being born in Taipei in 1984 because her father is of Cantonese descent.

From No Man Is an Island
On September 6, 2022
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