“From Island to Island” Taiwan Spotlight Screening Draws Strong Response in Los Angeles

LAPost / Culver City, CA (November 17, 2025) — From Island to Island, Taiwan’s official submission for the 2025 Academy Awards® Best Documentary Feature, held a special screening this afternoon at The Culver Theatre as part of the Asian World Film Festival’s “Focus on Taiwan” showcase. The 290-minute documentary was followed by an in-depth Q&A with director Lau Kek-huat, moderated by Michael Berry, Director of the Center for Chinese Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). The post-screening conversation offered nuanced reflections on history, memory, and humanity.

The event concluded with a warm reception that brought together filmmakers, scholars, and members of the Taiwanese and Asian American communities.

Directed by Lau Kek-huat and produced by Lin Wan-yu, From Island to Island revisits Taiwan’s complex wartime history under Japanese colonial rule. Through extensive interviews, archival material, and on-location filming in Taiwan and Southeast Asia, the documentary uncovers the rarely discussed experiences of Taiwanese soldiers and civilians who lived through World War II.

Presented in a mosaic of languages—including Taiwanese, Mandarin, Hakka, Cantonese, Malay, English, Malaysian, and Hokkien—the film connects stories across islands and generations, revealing how colonialism reshaped identities, families, and collective memory throughout the region.

Lau Kek-huat is a Malaysia-born, Taiwan-based filmmaker whose work centers on historical memory, identity, and the lingering legacy of colonial trauma in Southeast Asia. His previous films, including Absent Without Leave and The Tree Remembers, have been screened and awarded at major international film festivals.
From Island to Island represents his most ambitious endeavor yet—an eight-year undertaking that brings forgotten wartime testimonies back to the forefront.

During the Q&A session, Lau explained the intentional length and scope of the documentary:

“History has long been fragmented or silenced. To heal, we must first listen. Every testimony in this film deserves its space.”

He noted that many aspects of Taiwan’s wartime experience remain little known—even within Taiwan—and emphasized the importance of reconnecting Taiwan’s history with that of neighboring Asian regions. Lau described the work as “a shared island-to-island memory across oceans.”

Audience members praised the film as “a rare and necessary reconstruction of Asian wartime history”, noting its emotional depth and comprehensive research.

Following the screening, guests gathered for a lively reception, where filmmakers, students, and diaspora community members discussed the film’s contemporary relevance. Many noted that as more Asian stories reach global platforms like the Academy Awards®, works such as From Island to Island play an essential role in reshaping narratives about Asia’s past.

The evening’s strong turnout underscored the growing international interest in Taiwan’s documentary filmmaking and historical storytelling.

The “Focus on Taiwan” section of the Asian World Film Festival highlights the richness and diversity of Taiwanese cinema. Supported by the Taiwan Creative Content Agency (TAICCA) and the Taiwan Ministry of Culture, the program runs from November 13–17, 2025 at the Culver Theater in Culver City.

This year’s lineup features acclaimed features and shorts—including several Oscar submissions—the U.S. premiere of Marching Boys, and the local screening of Left-Handed Girl. Post-screening Q&As offer audiences direct engagement with visiting Taiwanese filmmakers, further showcasing Taiwan’s vibrant creative voice on the global stage.

(Written by: Richard Ren/LAPost)