Chen Chieh-Jen's Military Court and Prison is a quietly devastating film that blurs the boundaries of documentary and fiction. Set in Taipei's Jingmei district, where Chen himself grew up, the film revolves around the impending conversion of a military detention facility into a human rights memorial. Through a fusion of cinematic and theatrical elements, this hour-long performance unfolds in the final minutes of martial law and the prison's closure. Chen’s masterful use of slowed-down imagery, long takes, and sparse sound effectively captures the haunting atmosphere of the abandoned building. The camera follows an unnamed political prisoner, a ghostly figure, as he encounters a series of characters who are later revealed to be marginalised members of contemporary Taiwanese society. By collapsing past and present human-rights abuses, the film invites contemplation on the enduring impact of state control and the potential for resistance through collective memory.

The screening will be followed by a talk by Chen Chieh-Jen via video call, moderated by M+ Curator of Moving Image, Ulanda Blair. It will be held in English and Mandarin with consecutive translation.

Chen Chieh-Jen (b. 1960, Taiwan) is a prominent figure in Taiwanese contemporary art. Emerging in the 1980s, he challenged freedoms of expression under martial law through guerrilla-style performances. After the law ended in 1987, Chen spent eight years researching Taiwanese history. In 2002, he fully embraced filmmaking to address the neglected experiences of marginalised people in Taiwan. Collaborating with migrant workers, political dissidents, factory workers, squatters, the mentally ill, and the unemployed, he has captured their stories as hybrid documentary-fiction films with deliberate slowness, sparse dialogue, and silence. These ethereal works weave together the memories of social outliers with major incidents in Taiwanese history, revealing previously hidden traumas. Chen's films serve as platforms for experimental communities and shared learning, employing strategies of ‘reimagining, re-narrating, rewriting, and reconnecting.’