Award-winning filmmaker Vanessa Hope shines an urgent spotlight on Taiwan as it fights for autonomy and freedom from fear.
Thursday, November 7, 2024
7:30 PM (Pacific Time)
Melnitz Hall, James Bridges Theater
235 Charles E Young Dr E
Los Angeles, CA 90095
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Note: Please arrive at least 30 minutes early. Seating is available on a first come, first served basis. Paid parking is available in Lot 3 and visitors can purchase permits at the pay station.
About the Film
With unprecedented access to Taiwan’s sitting head of state, director Vanessa Hope investigates the election and tenure of Tsai Ing-wen, the first female president of Taiwan. Thorough, incisive and bristling with tension, Invisible Nation is a living account of Tsai’s tightrope walk as she balances the hopes and dreams of her nation between the colossal geopolitical forces of the U.S. and China. Hope’s restrained observational style captures Tsai at work in her country’s vibrant democracy at home, while seeking full international recognition of Taiwan’s right to exist. At a time when Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has demonstrated the ever-present threat of authoritarian aggression, Invisible Nation brings punctual focus to the struggle of Taiwan as it fights for autonomy and freedom from fear.
Vanessa Hope, Director and Producer
Vanessa Hope is an award-winning producer and director who has produced multiple acclaimed films in China including Berlin International Film Festival selection, Wang Quanan's The Story Of Ermei and Cannes Film Festival selection, Chantal Akerman's Tombee De Nuit Sur Shanghai, part of an omnibus of films, The State Of The World. She has also directed and produced several doc shorts, including China In Three Words, an official selection at DOC NYC. Hope made her directorial feature debut with the documentary All Eyes and Ears, an exploration of the complex links between the U.S. and China featuring former President Obama’s US Ambassador to China and premiering at the Tribeca Film Festival.
Hope’s additional producing credits include Sundance Film Festival selections, Zeina Durra’s The Imperialists Are Still Alive! and Sarah and Emily Kunstler's Academy award shortlisted feature documentary, William Kunstler: Disturbing The Universe and their award-winning SXSW film, Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism in America. She served as Executive Producer of Paula James-Martinez’s Born Free.
Vanessa and her husband, Ted Hope, share a company, Double Hope Films. Prior to her film career, Vanessa worked on foreign policy issues at the Council on Foreign Relations with Senior Fellow and Director of Asia Studies Elizabeth Economy. She received her B.A. from the University of Chicago in Anthropology and East Asian Studies and completed the coursework for a PhD at Columbia University before going into film.
Wei-San Hsu, Composer
Wei-San Hsu is a Los Angeles based composer and songwriter originally from Taipei, Taiwan. She has scored films and animations that have gained major awards and attention at prestigious film festivals, such as Berlinale (Berlin International Film Festival), Tribeca, IDFA and Hot Docs.
Wei-San’s distinctive musical voice seamlessly combines classical refinement with electronic innovation, subtly influenced by jazz undertones. Her score for Beneath the Banyan Tree was nominated by Hollywood Music In Media Awards. She was the recipient of the SESAC/New Music USA Reel Change Grant for her score for Invisible Nation, directed by Vanessa Hope.
In addition to film scoring, she extends her musical expertise across diverse mediums. Wei-San's commercial music could be heard in the US and around the world. Her clients include BMW, Disney, Intel, Kellogg’s, Chase, Toyota and more. She received a World Best Chinese Songwriter Award for her song Big Mouth. Her music for the digital media installation “Wild in Motion” was part of the exhibition at Chi-Mei Museum in Taiwan.
Wei-San is an alumna of the Berlinale Talents, NYU Film Scoring Program and Berklee College of Music.
Alex Wang, Professor of Law, UCLA School of Law
Alex Wang is a Professor of Law at UCLA School of Law, a Faculty Co-Director of the Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, and holds the Walter and Shirley Wang Chair in U.S.-China Relations and Communications.
His research focuses on the law and politics of Chinese environmental governance. Previous work has examined Chinese climate policy, U.S.-China environmental cooperation and competition, environmental bureaucracy, information disclosure, public interest litigation, the role of state-owned enterprises in environmental governance, and symbolic uses of governance reform.
He holds a J.D. from NYU School of Law and earned his B.S. in Biology from Duke University. He is a member of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations and the Council on Foreign Relations, a board member of the Environmental Law Institute, and a Co-Chair of the Faculty Advisory Committee of the California-China Climate Institute.
This event is presented by Double Hope Films, UCLA Asia Pacific Center and the UCLA School of Theater, Film & Television, and co-sponsored by the UCLA Taiwanese Student Association (TSA).
For questions about the event, please contact asia@international.ucla.edu
Sponsor(s): Asia Pacific Center, UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television, Double Hope Films, UCLA Taiwanese Student Association