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Taiwan Film and Audiovisual Institute presents Taiwan New Cinema classics at Cinemateca Portuguesa in Portugal
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) -
MOREIn celebration of International Museum Day Taiwan Film & Audiovisual Institute makes thousands of Taiwan Film Culture Company newsreels available to the public free of charge
Taiwan Film & Audiovisual Institute (TFAI) made an important announcement! To celebrate International Museum Day on May 18 and to realize access to culture, TFAI released the Taiwan Film Culture Company (TFCC) newsreels on TFAI Open Museum website, encouraging people to use them in digital exhibitions, media materials, research, and creation. Thousands of precious newsreels that documented the history of Taiwan are now available for downloading and using free of charge. Louis C. Lee, the CEO of TFAI, expressed, “Produced by Taiwan Film Culture Company run by the Taiwan Provincial Information Office, the content of these newsreels shows a wide range of subjects, including public health education, introduction to the central and regional construction projects, regional celebrations and sports games; they recorded every stage in the democratic, cultural, and industrial development of the country and proved to be our precious cultural memories. Since it is TFAI’s mission to preserve and promote our cultural memories, we choose to release these valuable historical materials to the public on International Museum Day; it is hoped that through looking back at these newsreels, we will not only understand better but identify with our culture and the land we live in.” In 2022, the Taiwan Film Culture Company newsreels and the related cultural assets were selected for the “3rd Memory of the World - National Registers of Taiwan” held by the Bureau of Cultural Heritage, the Ministry of Culture. Undoubtedly, these newsreels are the most valuable films that documented Taiwan from the 1950s to the 1980s. Before the prevalence of television, these newsreels were shown in between screenings in the movie theaters, but they were gradually phased out when television became widely available and then the newsreels were broadcast on television. From this year onwards, TFAI will release these precious videos in stages. On May 18, more than two thousand newsreels made between 1946 and 1969 were released online, and everyone is invited to look back at the history of Taiwan. Lee further expressed that these Taiwan Film Culture Company newsreels nostalgically recorded the modest streetscape and people’s lives in Taiwan almost seventy years ago, and these images could be used in a broad range of creative works, including the feature documentary, Kam Loo Tsui, which is scheduled to be completed in 2024, the VR film, The Theatre & I, directed by Lai Kuan-yuan and various in-depth media reports. This year in “Jamming with Archive: Re-coding” at Taiwan International Documentary Festival (TIDF), the artists used thousands of Taiwan Film Culture Company newsreels and employed several methods, including real-time computing, open-source software, on-site sensing, and machine learning to experiment and transform the materials, re-arranging the historical memories of Taiwan. Meanwhile, to re-enact how these newsreels were shown in the past, from the end of May, a selection of newsreels will be shown at the TFAI theaters before each screening, allowing the audience to relive the cinema experience in the old days. To enrich the historical account of Taiwanese audiovisual industry, TFAI has been systematically collecting the oral histories of film, television, and radio since 2018; we hope that by combining the memories of the veterans, who worked in various fields and documenting the events they witnessed in history, we will be able to unveil these previously unknown personal viewpoints to the public. On International Museum Day, up to six hundred minutes of oral history interview videos were available online. Regarding television, we see veterans, including Betty Pai, who was hailed as the most beautiful host, Tien Wen-chung, Liao Chiung-chih and Si Ma Yu-chiao, talking about how those programs of different genres were made at the Taiwan Television (TTV). As for radio, we hear the founding members of Taiwan New Telecommunication (TNT) talking about how the intellectuals fought against the authoritarian regime at that time through an underground radio station. In terms of film, we meet the heavyweight filmmakers in Taiwanese-language cinema such as Sha Yung-fong of Union Motion Picture Company, who was a staunch advocate for cultural heritage preservation, as well as directors Lin Fu-ti and Tsai Yang-ming. International Museum Day is set on May 18 by the International Council of Museums in the hope of reawakening people’s interest in the museums around the world and the cultural affairs. In response to “Museums for Education and Research”, the theme of the International Museum Day 2024, TFAI released these videos on TFAI Open Museum website. While promoting access to culture, improving the research in audiovisual heritage, increasing the use of these materials in education and raising public awareness of these issues, TFAI turns the cross-generational cultural memories into a bridge that connects people’s emotions. TFAI Open Museum: https://tfai.openmuseum.tw Caption 1: To celebrate International Museum Day on May 18 and to realize access to culture, TFAI released the TFCC newsreels and oral history interview videos on the TFAI Open Museum website. Thousands of precious videos about the history of Taiwan are available free of charge. (by courtesy of TFAI) Caption 2: The content of the TFCC newsreels includes public health education, introduction to the central and regional construction projects, regional celebrations and sports games. Photo: Opening of Lux Cinema in Wuchang Street in Ximending, Taipei on August 2, 1964. (by courtesy of TFAI) Caption 3: From this year onwards, TFAI will release the precious videos that documented Taiwan from the 1950s to the 1980s in stages. On May 18, more than two thousand TFCC newsreels were released online, and everyone is invited to look back at the history of Taiwan. Photo: Japanese POWs and expatriates in Taiwan being deported back to Japan. In 1945, after Japan surrendered to the Allies, the Japanese POWs and expatriates in Taiwan were deported back to Japan in batches. This scene was re-enacted in the film, Cape No. 7, which is set against the backdrop of this historical event. (by courtesy of TFAI) Caption 4: TFCC newsreels documented the modest streetscape and people’s lives in Taiwan seventy years ago. Photo: Workers making “Lucky Super Cyle” bicycles manufactured by Cheng-chung Bicycles. It recorded the flourishing bicycle industry in Taiwan at that time. (by courtesy of TFAI) Caption 5: The TIDF 2024 launched “Jamming with Archive: Re-coding” in which the artists used thousands of TFCC newsreels and employed several methods, including real-time computing, open-source software, on-site sensing, and machine learning to experiment and transform the materials, re-arranging the historical memories of Taiwan. (by courtesy of TIDF) Caption 6: To enrich the historical account of Taiwanese audiovisual industry, TFAI has been systematically collecting oral histories of film, television and radio since 2018. On International Museum Day, 600 minutes of oral history interview videos were uploaded online. Photo: The “most beautiful host” Betty Pai in one of the oral history interviews. (by courtesy of TFAI) Caption 7: International Museum Day is set on May 18 in the hope of reawakening people’s interest in the museums around the world and cultural affairs. In response to this year’s theme, “Museums for Education and Research,” TFAI released video data on TFAI Open Museum website, which included the oral history of Taiwanese audiovisual industry. Photo: Tsai Yang-ming, the renowned director in Taiwanese-language cinema, in one of the oral history interviews. (by courtesy of TFAI) -
MOREEdward Yang’s Retrospective Scheduled for 2023 at Taiwan Film and Audiovisual Institute and Taipei Fine Arts Museum
Taipei, Taiwan (Monday 11, July)─Upon the 15th anniversary of the death of the renowned Taiwanese director, Edward Yang (De-Chang), the Taiwan Film and Audiovisual Institute (TFAI) is joining hand with the Taipei Fine Arts Museum (TFAM) to sign an agreement with the director’s widow, Peng Kai-Li, for launching “Edward Yang: A Retrospective” (TBD) and the digital restoration of Yang’s two films, A Confucian Confusion (1994) and Mahjong (1996). Scheduled for mid-July 2023, this retrospective exhibition also includes an international forum co-curated by the TFAM Director Wang Jun-Jieh and film scholar Sing Song-Yong, and a screening series of Yang’s entire oeuvre. An Important and Iconic Director of the “Taiwan New Cinema”Edward Yang was one of the most iconic and world-famous Taiwanese directors of the 1980s’ “Taiwan New Cinema,” which marked the beginning of the unique and innovative culture of Taiwan cinema and brought extraordinary achievements in the global cinematic scene. A director with ample and diverse creative energy, Yang directed one TV series, one short film, and seven feature films throughout his life. He was also the playwright and director of at least four theatrical productions, several music videos and flash animations, as well as an artist of comic strips. Reputed “the thinker of urban culture,” Yang focused on urban dwellers’ living situations and experiences of modernity, with Taipei as the common background in his works. His expressions and approaches were always bold, witty, and dialectically rational. Throughout his life, he endeavored in realizing his film language in a distinctive way. Yang was also a constant winner of awards and prizes: A Brighter Summer Day (1991) won Best Feature Film and Best Original Screenplay at the 28th Golden Horse Award, as well as Best Feature Film at the 36th Asia Pacific Film Festival. Mahjong won the Special Jury Award at the 46th Berlin Film Festival and Best Director at the 9th Singapore International Film Festival. In 2000, Yang’s A One and a Two won Best Director at the Cannes Film Festival, making him the first Taiwanese director to ever receive this honor. In short, Yang’s creative career had continuously set new milestones for Taiwan cinema. The Most Comprehensive Retrospective of Edward Yang EverThe initiative of the collaboration began in 2019 when Peng and the TFAI started discussing the preservation of Yang’s objects and to digitally restore A Confucian Confusion and Mahjong, two films from Yang’s “Taipei Trilogy.” Never shown to the public, the items deposited by Peng comprises more than two thousand pieces of film-related archives and documents, including Yang’s notebooks, project proposals, scenarios, correspondences, production papers, and various audiovisual materials throughout his career, which, according to Peng, have been a collecting interest for many international institutions. The TFAI has spent nearly three years inventorying, cataloging, digitizing, and studying the archives. In order to retrace Edward Yang’s artistic steps, the TFAI decided to collaborate with the TFAM to launch a large-scale exhibition featuring these archives, which will also be the most comprehensive retrospective of Edward Yang ever presented in the world. The digital restorations of A Confucian Confusion and Mahjong would be the final step to show Yang’s oeuvre comprehensively to the public. A Confucian Confusion, an absurd comedy, satirizes the Confucian society in Taiwan that prides itself for being liberal and open while falling to be cautious of the capitalistic trap. The film also shows traces of Yang’s career spanning both film and theatre. Mahjong, on the other hand, demonstrates Yang’s idiosyncratically grim style. The film portrays a sense of emptiness and being lost, which permeates urban Taipei in a post-colonial globalization context. Despite a ruthless depiction, this film is not without a silver lining for redemption. When sent to the TFAI from the film laboratory of the Central Motion Picture Company (CMPC), the film prints of the two films were already damaged, problems including mold spots, water marks and bad splices. With the technology of digital restoration, the films will be restored to a pristine state, bringing back the classics to the public. Based in Taipei, an epitome of metropolitan cities that renders the ideology of progress and development, Yang was concerned with the blind pursuit of economic development, and was acutely sensitive as to how political, economic, and cultural colonization has affected people’s living situations and fate. Until today, the cautionary reminders embedded in his works are still sharply insightful and strongly compelling. In remembrance of Yang and his achievements, apart from showcasing Yang’s crucial documents and archives for the first time, the retrospective will highlight his creative and philosophical trajectory through fresh and interdisciplinary perspectives. An integration of installation, new media, and theater is expected to re-acquaint the world with Yang’s cinematic world of brilliance and his time. The TFAI President Lan Tsu-Wei states, “it is a great pleasure to carry forward Yang’s accomplishments together with the TFAM, for which we pay special thanks to Ms. Peng Kai-Li and the overall planning of the TFAI Director Wang Chun-Chi.” TFAM Director Wang Jun-Jieh says, “the exhibition will not only address Yang’s important achievements in terms of his aesthetic, cultural and historical critiques, but will also spur a dynamic dialogue between film and contemporary art. Meanwhile, we also look forward to touring the exhibition internationally in the future.” -ENDS-
