The collection, preservation, digitization, and digital restoration of audiovisual assets

*Data last updated in 2022

When the Film Library officially opened in January 1979, it was the only film library in Taiwan, housing 1,117 titles and 2,205 volumes of both Chinese-language and foreign books, 35 domestic and foreign periodicals, magazines, books, and newspapers. As for film collections, they were either rented or purchased from film distributors. There were 19 foreign titles and 64 domestic titles including A Touch of Zen, Execution in Autumn, and The Little Girl Named Cabbage. There were also 36 titles of newsreels including Along the River During the Qingming Festival and 8 titles of experimental films, including Windmill. Over the past 42 years, with the support of the film industry and various sectors, our collection has grown and expanded to include nearly 400,000 items of films, posters, stills, synopses, scripts, magazines, newspapers, books, audiotapes, records, sheet music, manuscripts, equipment, props, and other artifacts housed in the 17 vaults of the Taiwan Film and Audiovisual Institute. Our collection does not only provide materials for exhibitions and film programs both domestic and overseas, but it also offers rich resources for research in film, history, and social studies. Digitally restoring audiovisual works for preservation has been the trend nowadays, as many source materials were damaged due to poor storage conditions. Since 2008, TFAI started repairing films and collaborating with partners on digital restoration. From 2015, TFAI successively purchased digital restoration hardware and software, including high-end 4K film scanners. To this day, TFAI has repaired 661 advanced digital scans, digitally restored 76 with partners, and digitally restored 19 in-house.