TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A digitally restored 4K version of the classic Taiwanese film “A City of Sadness” (悲情城市), first released in 1989, is set to return to the silver screen on Feb. 24.

The film premiered 33 years ago at the Venice Film festival, where it took home the festival’s Golden Lion award, the festival’s highest, becoming the first Taiwanese (and Chinese-language) film to do so.

The film depicts a deaf-mute doctor whose family is caught up in the violence and terror of the 1947 February 28 incident, in which between 18,000 and 28,000 people were killed by Kuomintang (KMT) forces, and the massive changes to life in Taiwan after Japan relinquished control.

Directed by Guangdong born Hou Hsiao-hsien (侯孝賢), a leading figure Taiwan’s New Wave cinema, the film is notable for being one of the first on-screen depictions of the February 28 incident. The incident, and other issues related to the period of martial law in Taiwan that stretched from 1949 to 1992, colloquially known as the “White Terror,” were not widely discussed at the time, out of fear of government reprisal.

It is estimated that 3,000 to 4,000 people were killed during the White Terror, often due to accusations of being communist spies or anti-government. “A City of Sadness” is credited with allowing many Taiwanese to confront the pain of the period and reconcile this with concepts of national identity.

The film’s co-writer Chu T’ien-wen (朱天文) said that she hoped Taiwanese audiences would see the film in theaters, despite it being familiar to many. "Regardless of how long it's been, time always adds another layer of meaning to things," she said to Focus Taiwan.

The digitally restored edition of “A City of Sadness” will be shown in nearly 60 theaters across Taiwan from Feb. 24.