Plot Summary

Taiwanese writer and social critic Long Yingtai spent the last decade undertaking an ambitious project to record the untold stories of the Chinese Civil War that culminated in the Kuomintang's 1949 retreat to Taiwan. Based on her research as well as first-hand experiences collected through interviews, Long wrote the book "Big River Big Sea 1949," and, with the help of producer Wang Shau-di and director Huang Li-ming, also created this companion documentary. The film chronicles her yearlong journey visiting war survivors scattered throughout Taiwan, Hong Kong, and various places in mainland China, preserving a generation's precious memories in the form of a vivid oral history.