Seen on the fourth day of my most recent Taiwan trip
Invisible Nation: Extended Cut (USA-Taiwan, 2024)
- Vanessa Hope, director and co-producer (along with four others)
I first heard about Invisible Nation soon after its September 2023 debut at the Woodstock Film Festival. But with things being the way they now are in Hong Kong (with not only a number of Hong Kong protest documentaries not being allowed to be screened in cinemas but, also, certain films from Taiwan and elsewhere that were apparently adjudged to have breached the national security law), I held little hope of being able to view this documentary about Taiwan that was shot for the most part during Tsai Ing Wen's presidency. (Filming of the documentary began in May 2017, one year after she assumed office.)
So imagine my surprise upon discovering earlier this week that that which is listed as the extended cut of the film (yet is 82 minutes long, in contrast to the 85 minutes listed length (on IMDB) of the original version!) made available on the PBS platform is available to view in Hong Kong (as well as the USA) sans VPN! And to confirm that, as of a few minutes ago, this documentary remains available to view, and for free too!
Invisible Nation begins with beautiful, peaceful vistas of a green tropical land with seas and urban along with rural scapes. It then proceeds to show a smiling Tsai Ing Wen meeting school students and telling them that she hoped to learn from them "what you hope your country can do for you."
Right there and then, it's made clear that Taiwan is a distinct place, and most definitely a democracy. So one feels quite the frisson when the film then follows up with a view of The Great Wall of China and the sound of Chinese leader Xi Jinping stating that "Taiwan is part of China". The People's Republic of China, it is implied. In other words: non-democratic, authoritarian, Communist China.
Over the course of Invisible Nation, one also learns of how, in addition to denying that Taiwan is an independent nation, the government over in Beijing does its utmost to deny Taiwan visibility in the world -- and how the world for the most part, including world organizations like the United Nations and International Olympic Committee and other international sports bodies, goes along with it; with Taiwan not being a member nation of the United Nations, and Taiwanese sportsmen and sportswomen having to compete these days in international tournaments under the name "Chinese Taipei" and the Taiwanese national anthem not being allowed to be played when Taiwanese athletes win at the Olympics.
Despite it looking to be a David versus Goliath battle, Taiwan -- especially during the presidency of Tsai Ing Wen -- is not taking all this lying down. (Why would it? Especially when we know that in the Old Testament tale, David beat Goliath!) And what Invisible Nation also makes clear is that Taiwan's existential struggle is two fold: with one part involving Taiwan working to stay politically independent and democratic; and the other part telling Taiwan's story to the world.
With Invisible Nation helping to fulfill the latter task, it's easy to see that there are people who will accuse it of being a propaganda work. And for sure, Vanessa Hope does present Taiwan in a friendlier light than the People's Republic of China. Ditto with regards to Taiwan's first female president (who, after serving two terms, has been succeeded by her vice-president, William Lai Ching Te -- as an afterword in the extended cut points out) being presented in a more favourable manner than Communist China's "president for life" (who assumed the offices of General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party and Chairman of the Central Military Commission back in 2012)!
At the same time though, Invisible Nation does present facts and figures, not just biases and vibes. The documentary also does provide a historical perspective and portrait of a culturally diverse people that is helpful in allowing people to understand the overall situation and picture; one that, frankly, can come across as very complex and complicated, and overwhelm those who come into a viewing of this film with (next to) zero prior knowledge of East Asia -- though my own sense is that Vanessa Hope pitched this at just the right level, so that you don't have to be a complete East Asian political wonk to be able to comprehend and follow it all!
My rating for this film: 8.5
