"Welcome to the Taiwan Film and Audiovisual Institute, a place brimming with stories and memories."
Located at No. 2, Wenyi Road, Xinzhuang, District, this fortress-like white building houses hundreds of thousands of films, television shows, radio broadcasts, and artifacts created in Taiwan. It is a brilliant gem of collective memories and audiovisual cultural heritage shared by the nation.
Tracing its origins back to 1978, it was first established as Taiwan's first "Film Library," carrying the missions of film art promotion and the exploration of film aesthetics. It hosted the Golden Horse International Film Festival, an annual feast for film enthusiasts. Programs like the Golden Harvest Awards for Outstanding Short Films, Short Film Grants, and Excellent Screenplay Awards became the creative cradle for celebrated directors like Ang LEE, TSAI Ming-liang, and WAN Jen.
In 1989, it was renamed the "Film Archive of the Motion Picture Development Foundation, ROC," which began its journey of rescuing and restoring old films. With dedicated efforts across diverse locations, classic Taiwanese films like Brother Wang and Brother Liu Tour Taiwan and The Fantasy of Deer Warrior were saved from deteriorating reels. After evolving through stages as the "Chinese Taipei Film Archive (CTFA)" in 1991 and later the "Taiwan Film Institute" in 2014, it was reestablished in 2019 as the "Taiwan Film and Audiovisual Institute"—Taiwan's only national administrative institution focuses on preserving, researching, restoring, and promoting audiovisual cultural heritage while making these assets accessible to the public.
"What we restore and preserve is not just sound and image, but the spirit of an era."
These digitally revitalized fragments are the collective memories of Taiwanese people's grassroots lives, the nation's economic and cultural development, which are worth in-depth research. By expanding collection reinterpretation and public accesst we hope to foster a deeper connection to Taiwan's culture and identity.
We invite younger generations to join us to rediscover Taiwan's historical moments and heartfelt lives. May the stories and spirits held by the Taiwan Film and Audiovisual Institute serve as an endless well of memories and inspiration, sparking boundless imagination and creativity!
Chairman
Arthur CHU