In the 1920s, more than 20 years after the Lumière brothers introduced cinema to the world in Paris, a group of Dutch filmmakers came to Taiwan to document people's daily lives. Their footage captured Japanese officials inspecting Indigenous villages, scenes of Han settler's traditional houses, tea and sugarcane plantations. This nearly eight-minute film, a copy reproduced from the Eye Filmmuseum in the Netherlands, is currently the earliest film about Taiwan held by the Taiwan Film and Audiovisual Institute. It offers us a glimpse, through a Western lens, into the colonial rulers, our ancestors, and the landscapes of 1920s Taiwan. Even as a brief glimpse of an era, this film highlights the uniqueness of audiovisual cultural heritage, containing layers of information beyond oral, written, or pictorial records.

Since the joint founding of the "Film Library of the Motion Picture Development Foundation, ROC" by the government and civil sector in 1978, the Institute has undergone multiple transformations. Through the collective efforts of acquisition and restoration, the Institute has collected more than 20,000 reels and 400,000 artifacts. Just like the Taiwan captured by the Dutch filmmakers, these items are now preserved in professional vaults. These valuable assets are fragments of our memories: one might contain a movie we had seen in youth, while another shows a street from our childhood that no longer exists. They represent collective memories and the identity of Taiwanese people, connecting us tightly with this land and its history.

The Institute is the nation's only administrative institution that specializes in the collection of audiovisual assets, in fact acting as a museum. By operating missions of museum governance (policy), collection, restoration, research exhibition, educational outreach and community engagement, it allows the public to access these vibrant moving images and sound recordings that cross generations, empowering modern society to revisit and reinterpret this cultural heritage with fresh perspectives. Meanwhile, by continuously expanding our collections of contemporary audiovisual materials and publications, we ensure that future generations will be able to witness and understand today's ideas, society, and ways of life.

We deeply acknowledge that these invaluable cinematic and audiovisual assets are not merely records of images and sounds but also vessels of Taiwan's history and culture, bearing countless memories and emotions. While holding great significance for Taiwan, they are also part of the world's collective memories and cultural diversity. As a member of the International Federation of Film Archives (FIAF), the Institute collaborates with over 160 film archives and related organizations from more than 70 countries or regions, working together to promote and preserve cinematic heritage for the benefits of all human kind. We are also eager to introduce Taiwan to the world through participating in international film festivals.

We sincerely invite all sectors of society to follow and support our efforts; so that these precious cultural assets can be passed down for generations, thereby continuously exerting their values and impacts in the future.

Thank you for your support and attention.

Executive Director

Li-Chin DU