On a dim Wednesday morning, students and local community members, a majority of Chinese-speakers, gathered in San Francisco State University’s Annex I to engage in Taiwanese history. “A Chip Odyssey,” a documentary directed by Hsiao Chu-Chen and produced by Ben Chen and Ben Tsiang, explores the history of the nation’s economic and industrial innovations created using technology the size of a fingernail. Chu-Chen was first introduced to the topic of semiconductor production when attending a memorial service in 2019 for Hu Ding-Hwa, a notable figure in the tech industry. Semiconductors are materials that allow electricity to flow through them, and are processed into a chip or integrated circuits. After the service, Chu-Chen decided a film needed to be made to spotlight the underrepresented faces behind the industry. She interviewed over 80 people ranging from engineers, technicians, policy makers and residents who were relocated due to the expansion of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturi...