A Letter to A’ma has called everyone’s deep memories…

Taiwan Film Festival of Boston (TFFB) is excited to have kicked off 2023 with a sold-out spring event co-organized with ArtsEmerson, Emerson College’s professional presenting and producing organization, at the Emerson Paramount Theater in downtown Boston. We were honored to collaborate with Susan Chinsen, the creative producer and founder of the Boston Asian American Film Festival (BAAFF), which is a professional and international team, to jointly promote “A Letter to A’ma,” a documentary of young people in Taiwan searching for their roots and learning about Taiwan’s history from the perspective of their older family members who are ordinary citizens.

2023 年波士頓台灣影展 (TFFB)的春季活動是與隸屬於 Emerson College 的專業製作團隊 ArtsEmerson 共同合辦 ，地點位於波頓市中心的 Emerson Paramount Theater。Susan Chinsen 是創意製作人，也是波士頓亞美電影節的創辦人。我們很榮幸能夠與非常專業且國際級 的團隊合作，並且結合波士頓亞美電影節 (BAAFF, Boston Asian American Film Festival) 共同推 廣這部帶領台灣人尋根、從庶民視角認識台灣歷史的紀錄片【給阿媽的一封信】

A Letter to A’ma toured in more than 18 cities in North America, including Washington DC, Atlanta, North Carolina, Houston, Los Angeles, Seattle, Northern California, San Diego, Michigan, Ohio, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Pittsburgh, Chicago, New Jersey, New York, and Boston. We were one of the stops in this relay race. Hosting this film screen challenged us to work as high performing team. All 170 tickets were sold out while more people continue to request tickets. Some even asked for standing spots.

活動當週，170 張電影票全部售罄，且仍有許多觀眾不斷聯絡我們希望可以再拿到更多的 票或者站著觀賞陳慧靈導演的作品。【給阿媽的一封信】是一場北美巡迴的活動，北美超過 18 個城市參與，其中包含華盛頓 DC、亞特蘭大、 北卡、 休士頓、 洛杉磯、 西雅圖,、北加州、 聖 地牙哥、密西根、 俄亥俄州、明尼蘇達州、威斯康星州、匹茲堡、 芝加哥、新澤西、紐約...等。 波士頓是這個接力賽中的其中一站，主辦這個活動是挑戰團隊合作與協調事務的能力。

After the event, Director Chen praised the Taiwan Film Festival of Boston team, saying: "I have never seen any team works so well. The members are young yet mature, and more importantly, every volunteer has an incomparable sense of mission and honor.” Over the years, she had only seen two teams perform at this level. One is TFFB and the other is the Golden Horse Film Festival. She was incredibly touched and encouraged by her trip to Boston.”

陳導演頻 頻讚美波士頓台灣影展說: 「從來沒有見過任何團隊做事這麼有方法，成員這麼年輕且成熟，更重 要的是每一位志工都有無比的使命感與榮譽感。多年以來，她只見過兩個團隊成員有如此的榮譽 感，一個是 TFFB, 另一個是金馬影展。她感覺波士頓之行帶給她無以言喻的感動與激勵。」

After presenting the film, the event featured a post-screening discussion hosted by Julie Wu, a second-generation American-Taiwanese with a literature degree from Harvard University and a medical degree from Columbia University, and the author of "Third Son.” During the discussion, the director spoke about the issue of identity as a Taiwanese. At the end of the discussion, the director recited a poem from the French poet Hugo in French. She expressed that identity is not a single-choice question but a multiple-choice question. Identity is not necessarily the place of birth or where you have lived the longest. Identity is not a noun but a verb; Taiwanese can be a collective achievement formed through the actions of each individual, and it is about what each of us decides to do. After the talk, many Taiwanese and non-Taiwanese audiences shared their thoughts with the director: Taiwan's story made them see the similar situation and common problems faced by their own country.

活動除了播放紀錄片還有映後座談，與談人 Julie Wu 是美台人二代，《三郎》是她的第 一本著作。她在哈佛大學獲得文學學位後，轉於哥倫比亞大學攻讀醫學，行醫幾年後專心在她的 寫作事業與育兒生活。映後座談，導演及與談人帶領大家討論身為台灣人「身分認同」的議題。 會後有許多非台灣的觀眾來找導演分享，他們說台灣的故事讓他們看見自己國家類似的處境以及 所共同面臨的問題。座談最後，導演用法文朗誦法國詩人雨果的詩，表達身份認同不是一個單選 題可以是複選題，身分認同不一定是出身地或身處最久的地方，身分認同不是一個名詞是一個動 詞;台灣人可以是透過每個個體的做為所形成的集體成就，是關乎我們每個人決定怎麼做。