In the summer of 1979, during Taiwan’s martial law period, Bing-Kuan asks her college friend Shu-Lan to help out on her family’s banana plantation. As time goes by, the two girls secretly develop a romantic relationship, and decide to volunteer at the Formosa Magazine in order to promote democratic freedom of expression. Yet their youthful romance is threatened as the Kuomintang regime seeks to suppress dissident voices. Secrets of 1979 is the latest film by award-winning director Zero Chou. Depicting a turbulent period in Taiwan’s history, Chou explores the connections between political and sexual awakening, the film offering a stark reminder of the forces that seek to suppress change.