Documentary pays tribute to Taiwanese writer Sanmao
Thirty years after the tragic death of Taiwanese writer Sanmao, a documentary premiere at the Miguel de Cervantes Library in Shanghai on the Women’s Day lifts the lid on the mystery surrounding the author’s abrupt suicide while receiving medical treatment.
Sanmao is the pen name of Echo Chan, who was born in the wartime Chongqing, southwest China, in 1943. She moved to Taiwan with her family in 1948 and studied in Spain in the late 1960s, which piqued her love of Europe and Africa.
In 1974, she married José María Quero y Ruiz — a Spaniard eight years her junior — and they lived together in then-Spanish-controlled Western Sahara before moving to the Canary Islands. In 1979, Quero died in a diving accident off La Palma.
Heartbroken, Sanmao returned to Taipei the following year, but she never stopped writing or traveling until she committed suicide in 1991.
A file photo of Sanmao and her husband José Maria Quero y Ruiz in front of their house in Western Sahara in the 1970s
Titled “Sanmao: the desert bride,” by Spanish directors Marta Arribas and Ana Pérez, the documentary traces different aspects and conflicts in Sanmao’s life, using old images, interviews of her family members and symbolic fragments from film clips that well reflect her characters and emotions in her coming of age.
In the documentary is Chinese cartoonist Zhang Leping’s comic strip “Adventures of Sanmao the Orphan,” from which Chan took her pen name.
It also cites Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s fable “The Little Prince,” whose experience of facing long odds of survival in the desert inspired her to write.
With montage, the documentary also delves into the controversy of her death after the premiere of “Red Dust,” an award-wining film scripted by Sanmao and Ho Yim in 1990.
A pioneering adventurer of her time, Sanmao was a symbol of female emancipation for her pursuit of love and happiness.
Her travelogues combined her daily life with suspense and news of the day. Through her books, she spoke publicly of the exotic land, intercultural love and freedom of choice.
She provided a sentimental education for millions of Chinese readers who lived through their formative years since China’s reform and opening-up.
“The first book I read was ‘Stories of the Sahara,’ and I quickly understood why she was so famous for several generations,” said Lucila Carzoglio, a PhD literature student at Shanghai University, whose research mainly deals with women travelers during the 20th century.
“Despite her fame in China, Sanmao remained a low-key figure in Latin America, which means she is all very new to us Spanish readers.”
So far, three anthologies were published in Spain. Apart from the “Stories of the Sahara,” there is the “Canary Islands Diaries” and “Nowhere Diaries,” which includes Sanmao’s early writings.
The premiere screening of the documentary "Sanmao: the desert bride" at the Miguel de Cervantes Library in Shanghai
As is planned, the upcoming events include a second screening of “Sanmao: the desert bride,” which will be held on March 26 in commemoration of Sanmao’s birthday.
Then there will be a round table with Irene Tor Corroggio, translator of Sanmao’s books into Spain on April 10, and sometime later a portraits presentation of Sanmao in the early 1990s by Chinese photographer Xiao Quan.
“Our purpose is to approach Sanmao from different perspectives. So the program will be related to less known aspects, such as her job in translating the Argentine comic strip ‘Mafalda’ into Chinese and her journey through Latin American countries,” said Carzoglio, coordinator of the program themed on “Sanmao, 30 years.”
To get more information about the program, please follow Miguel de Cervantes Library accounts: BibliotecaCervantes
