Unmarried Mothers

Director: Lee Mi-mi

1980 / 93min / DCP

Sent to a maternity home for unattached pregnant women, most of whom have been shipped there by mortified parents hoping to hide their family shame from the world until the unwanted child is delivered and disposed of through adoption, Hsiao-Peng (Hwa Fang), after first succumbing to the despair and self-disgust that society demands of someone in her position soon finds strength in the unexpected support network she discovers around her, eventually moving on with the help of other former wards of the shelter to create a nontraditional family unit of her own. A touching, taboo-flaunting portrayal of solidarity among those branded as tainted goods, and with a marvelous needle drop of ABBA’s “Dancing Queen” to boot.