Prior to the lifting of martial law in Taiwan, a group of films influenced by the European wave of exploitation movies was produced in the 1980s. This filmic genre would usually portray a severely oppressed heroine enacting a bloody vengeance. The Women’s Revenge uses these films as a starting point for re-examining problems of body regulation, modern discomfort, and the mediatized body. The film reflects on the misunderstanding and exploitation of female sexuality in the image system, exposing how the contemporary body is manipulated by image technologies. For the artist, these films point to a black hole in history, in which a mixed bunch of images devour possible clues to the life politics of an entire generation.

Screening as part of Queer East 2021 Artists’ Moving Image Programme.