Taiwan Film and Audiovisual Institute

25°02′38.1″N 121°31′20.6″E / 25.043917°N 121.522389°E / 25.043917; 121.522389

Taiwan Film and Audiovisual Institute
國家電影及視聽文化中心
Established19 January 1979 (as the Film Library of the Motion Picture Development Foundation)
MissionFilm preservation and restoration
ChairLAN Tsu-wei
Chief of ExecutiveLouis C. Lee
BudgetNT$170 million p.a.[1]
Formerly calledFilm Library of the Motion Picture Development Foundation
National Film Archive
Chinese Taipei Film Archive
Taiwan Film Institute
Location
Xinzhuang, New Taipei City, Taiwan
Websitewww.tfi.org.tw

The Taiwan Film and Audiovisual Institute (TFAI; traditional Chinese: 國家電影及視聽文化中心; simplified Chinese: 国家电影及视听文化中心; pinyin: Guójiā Diànyǐng Jí Shìtīng Wénhuà Zhōngxīn; lit. 'National Film and Audiovisual Culture Center'), formerly Taiwan Film Institute (TFI; traditional Chinese: 國家電影中心; simplified Chinese: 国家电影中心; pinyin: Guójiā Diànyǐng Zhōngxīn; lit. 'National Film Center'), is a foundation in Zhongzheng District, Taipei, Taiwan, that aims to preserve Taiwanese and Mandarin films. At its establishment in 1979, the foundation was known as the Film Library of the Motion Picture Development Foundation. It became the National Film Archive in 1989, and the Chinese Taipei Film Archive later.

History

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Plans for a national film archive were first proposed in 1967 by the Cultural Bureau of the Ministry of Education. Two years later, drafting of the Film Archive Establishment Act began. However, the Cultural Bureau was shut down in 1973, and the film archive project was placed on hold. Oversight of Taiwanese cinema was delegated to the Government Information Office (GIO). The Motion Picture Development Foundation [zh], which had been established in 1975 with help from the GIO and the Taipei Film Business Association, announced in 1978 that a film library would be funded via the GIO. The Film Library of the Motion Picture Development Foundation opened on 19 January 1979.[2]

The film library later became responsible for hosting the Golden Horse Awards ceremony. It was renamed the National Film Archive in 1989, shortly before its founding director Hsu Li-kong left his post. Hsu's successor Ray Jing ended the archive's involvement with the Golden Horse Awards. Additionally, the name change brought with it a new mission. Jing began compiling old Taiwanese Hokkien films and other artifacts of the Taiwanese film industry, choosing to set aside the cultural education of the public. In 1991, the National Film Archive split from the Motion Picture Development Foundation, and was placed under the purview of the National Film Archive Foundation shortly thereafter. The foundation itself answered to the Department of Motion Picture Affairs, a division of the Government Information Office. The National Film Archive sought membership in the International Federation of Film Archives in 1992. Membership was granted in 1995, after the archive became the Chinese Taipei Film Archive.[2]

On 28 July 2014, the Ministry of Culture replaced the Chinese Taipei Film Archive with the Taiwan Film Institute.[3] The TFI was launched in a ceremony attended by culture minister Lung Ying-tai and New Taipei Mayor Eric Chu.[1] On 26 December 2016, the institute launched an online box office, an attempt to increase the transparency of the Taiwanese film industry.[4] In July 2017, it launched its film restoration laboratory.[5]

The Legislative Yuan passed a bill in December 2019, upgrading the Taiwan Film Institute from an incorporated foundation to an administrative public body.[6][7] The legislation took effect on 19 May 2020 and the organization was renamed to the Taiwan Film and Audiovisual Institute.[7][8][9]

Film preservation

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A selection of Hokkien films were curated by Chang Yann and Alfonso Li for the 25th Golden Horse Awards in 1988 at the direction of Hsu Li-kong.[10] Attempts to preserve Hokkien films began under Ray Jing's leadership of the National Film Archive.[2][8] In 2013, the Chinese Taipei Film Archive began the Taiwan Cinema Digital Restoration Project.[11][8] The Taiwan Film and Audiovisual Institute holds within its collection all of the surviving Hokkien-language films produced between 1956 and 1961.[11][12] Although 1,000 Hokkien-language films were produced between 1956 and 1981,[11][10] and 1,500 to 2,000 were created in total,[10][13] roughly 160 complete films survive,[10][12] due to the political censorship of the White Terror period, which also heavily affected Hokkien pop.[14]

From 1989 to 2022, the Taiwan Film and Audiovisual Institute collected over 18,000 Taiwanese films. As of 2022, this film collection was stored in Shulin District, New Taipei.[15][16] There are plans for a film museum, with more space dedicated to film storage.[15][16]

Organizational structures

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  • Department of Administration
  • Department of Acquisition and Preservation
  • Department of Education and Public Services
  • Department of Research and Development
  • Department of Documentary
  • Department of International Promotion
  • Department of Digital Restoration
  • Office of Accounting[17]

Events

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The film institute also holds film preservation with other institute outside Taiwan.[18] It regularly holds movie screenings and exhibitions on films, as well as film compilation.[19][20][21][22][23][24] It also invites renowned move experts to teach at the institute.[25] The institute has also been promoting movies to elementary and secondary schools in Taiwan.[26]

Transportation

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The organization is accessible within walking distance south of Shandao Temple Station of Taipei Metro.[27]

References

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  1. ^ a b Frater, Patrick (29 July 2014). "Taiwan Film Institute Launched". Variety. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  2. ^ a b c Lee, Daw-Ming (2012). Historical Dictionary of Taiwan Cinema. Scarecrow Press. pp. 123–124. ISBN 9780810879225.
  3. ^ "Culture ministry's new center to aid local film industry". Taipei Times. Central News Agency. 29 July 2014. Retrieved 29 December 2017.
  4. ^ "Film institute to launch online box-office revenue system". Taiwan Today. 23 December 2016. Retrieved 29 December 2017.
  5. ^ Teng, Pei-ju (30 September 2017). "Taiwan Film Institute premieres first digitally restored documentary". Taiwan News. Retrieved 29 December 2017.
  6. ^ Wang, Yang-yu; Hung, Chien-lun; Kao, Evelyn (11 December 2019). "Bill passed to turn Taiwan Film Institute into a public body". Central News Agency. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
  7. ^ a b "Bill passed to transform the Taiwan Film Institute into national entity". Ministry of Culture. 10 December 2019. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
  8. ^ a b c "Taiwan Film Institute preserves country's cinematic classics". Taiwan Today. 3 January 2020. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
  9. ^ "影視聽中心第一屆董監事會召開 型塑臺灣影視聽文化底蘊與記憶". tfi.org.tw (in Traditional Chinese). Retrieved 6 September 2020.
  10. ^ a b c d Huang, Teresa (2020). "The Taiwan Film and Audiovisual Institute's Taiwanese-language cinema restoration project". Journal of Chinese Cinemas. 14 (2): 150–155. doi:10.1080/17508061.2020.1781360.
  11. ^ a b c Han Cheung (5 March 2020). "Lost Taiwanese cinema tours the West". Taipei Times. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
  12. ^ a b Gao, Pat (1 January 2018). "Preserving the Past". Taiwan Today. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
  13. ^ Lee, Daw-ming (2012). Historical Dictionary of Taiwan Cinema. Scarecrow Press. pp. 23–25. ISBN 9780810879225.
  14. ^ Tsai, Wen-ting (May 2002). "Taiwanese Pop Will Never Die". Taiwan Panorama. Translated by Smith, Glenn; Mayer, David. Archived from the original on 3 May 2015. Retrieved 9 October 2016. Cited in: Ho, Wai-Chung (December 2007). "Music and cultural politics in Taiwan". International Journal of Cultural Studies. 10 (4): 463–483. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.1025.5929. doi:10.1177/1367877907083080.
  15. ^ a b Teng, Pei-ju (1 May 2022). "FEATURE/Taiwan film preservationists face battle against time & space". Central News Agency. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
  16. ^ a b Teng, Pei-ju (7 January 2022). "New Taipei mayor vows to build Xinzhuang into Taiwan film hub". Central News Agency. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
  17. ^ "Organization". Taiwan Film Institute. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  18. ^ "Taipei Film Activity". Taipei Film Commission. 1 September 2016. Retrieved 29 December 2017.
  19. ^ "Inaugural Taiwanese Film Festival, Made in Taiwan, Runs May 11th-14th, Featuring Exclusive Masterclass with Internationally Acclaimed Filmmaker Mr. Hou Hsiao-hsien". Taipei Representative Office in Ireland. 22 April 2017. Retrieved 29 December 2017.
  20. ^ "The Screening Tour". Taiwan's Lost Commercial Cinema. Retrieved 29 December 2017.
  21. ^ "Taiwan Cinema Toolkit". Ministry of Culture. 19 October 2017. Retrieved 29 December 2017.
  22. ^ "Introduction". Taiwan Film Institute. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  23. ^ Gerber, Abraham (29 May 2015). "Taiwan Film Institute to take classic films on tour". Taipei Times. Retrieved 29 December 2017.
  24. ^ Nu, Xia. "Made in Taiwan: A Touch of Zen King Hu". Irish Film Institute. Retrieved 29 December 2017.
  25. ^ "Irena Taskovski teaching at Taiwan Film Institute September 10th- 13th". Taskovski Films Ltd. Retrieved 29 December 2017.
  26. ^ Yang, Olivia (22 September 2016). "Taiwan knows what's wrong with its film industry". The Ohio State University. Retrieved 29 December 2017.
  27. ^ "Transportation". Taiwan Film Institute. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
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