Last year, Taiwan Film and Audiovisual Institute (TFAI) collaborated with Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Spain and Taipei Economic and Cultural Centre in Portugal on 'King Hu & Taiwanese Martial Arts Film Festival' at Cinemateca Portuguesa. Since it received overwhelmingly positive feedback, this year, Cinemateca Portuguesa initiated a Taiwan New Cinema film festival titled 'Revisitar o Cinema Novo de Taiwan', on which they work with the programmer Nuno Sena and Taipei Economic and Cultural Centre in Portugal.

'Taiwan New Cinema' is a film reform movement started by a group of Taiwanese filmmakers more than forty years ago. They hoped that their films, which were close to the lives of ordinary people and shot in a realistic style, would resonate with the audiences. The leading figures of the movement include the renowned directors Hou Hsiao-hsien and Edward Yang. The movement not only created legends and endowed Taiwan with an important cultural legacy but catapulted Taiwanese cinema onto the international stage. 'Revisitar o Cinema Novo de Taiwan' introduces the diversity and the filmmakers of New Taiwan Cinema to the audiences outside Taiwan. At the screening of the opening film, In Our Time, Chang Tsung-che, the representative of Taipei Economic and Cultural Centre in Portugal, greeted the audience with Taiwanese glove puppets that symbolized the Taiwanese culture. Chang expressed that through cinema, people around the world could get to see the different aspects of Taiwan and he hoped that in the future, there would be more opportunities of showing Taiwanese culture to the world.

'Revisitar o Cinema Novo de Taiwan' takes place from 5th to 21st of June, showing the nine highly representative films screened in the program, 'Taiwan New Cinema: Revisited,' held at TFAI in 2022. They include four classics, Dust in the Wind (digitally restored), In Our Time (digitally restored), My Favorite Season (digitally restored) and Strawman (Taiwanese-language version) directed by masters such as Hou Hsiao-hsien, Edward Yang, Chen Kun-hou and Wang Toon. In addition, Girls’ School (digitally restored) by the first Taiwanese female commercial director Lee Mimi, Kendo Kids, Ah Fu, The Digger. The Suona Player and The Two of Us (digitally restored) are selected.

Meanwhile, TFAI invited Lee You-ning, the director of The Two of Us, to Portugal. The film script was written by the celebrated Taiwanese scriptwriter Wu Nien-jen in the 1980s, and it won Wu Best Adapted Screenplay at the Golden Horse Awards. The theme song, Song of Another Somebody, was performed by Lee Shou-chuan; the tender melody and the sincere lyrics made the song a big hit at the time and its popularity has remained ever since. Director Lee attended the pre-screening introduction and the post-screening Q&As; sharing the making of The Two of Us with the local audience, Lee explained that the script was inspired by a story in the newspaper and how the film reflected the social and economic situation in Taiwan at that time. He expressed, 'Having met the Cinemateca Portuguesa staff and the overseas audiences in person, I truly feel the passion and the strong sense of mission of all those involved in this festival. I'm very happy and moved.' In 2020, TFAI restored Girls' School directed by Lee Mimi. Through the screenings of the film all over the world, TFAI demonstrates its professionalism and ability to restore films and its ample energy as an international film archive and restoration institute.

Cinemateca Portuguesa is one of the important pioneer film archives in Europe and a leader in film archive and restoration. Like TFAI, Cinemateca Portuguesa is dedicated to collecting, preserving and promoting the cultural legacy of moving pictures and raising public understanding of the history of cinema, regarding the development of film and audiovisual culture as their commission. Miranda Chuang, Director of Promotion and Cooperation at TFAI, says, 'TFAI screened the martial arts films in Portugal last year and this year, we introduce Taiwan New Cinema to the Portuguese audiences. These films play a very important role in the history of Taiwanese cinema. This collaboration is helpful in promoting Taiwanese films in Portugal and increasing the cultural exchange between Taiwan and Portugal. In the future, TFAI will continue collaborating with Cinemateca Portuguesa in different aspects. We hope that through our collaboration, we will increase the influence as well as the visibility of Taiwanese cinema on the international stage and promote the international cooperation and exchange between different film cultures.'

REVISITAR O CINEMA NOVO DE TAIWAN

Place: Cinemateca Portuguesa

Date: 5 – 21 June

For more details: https://www.cinemateca.pt/programacao.aspx?ciclo=1783

 REVISITAR O CINEMA NOVO DE TAIWAN initiated by Cinemateca Portuguesa. From left to right: Miranda Chuang (Director of Promotion and Cooperation at TFAI), Nuno Sena (Revisitar o Cinema Novo de Taiwan programmer), Lee You-ning (director) and Wu Chen-yi (Head of Department of International Cooperation at TFAI)