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Taiyupian 2.0: Taiwanese-language films embark on Europe tour

  • Date:2020-02-11
Taiyupian 2.0: Taiwanese-language films embark on Europe tour

The 2020 edition of "Taiwan's Lost Commercial Cinema: Restored and Recovered" brought together seven scholars for a symposium, and launched a screening tour of seven newly restored and subtitled dramatic films and four contemporary shorts films in Europe. This program was made possible with the support of King's College London in association with the Cultural Division of the Taipei Representative Office in London and the Taiwan Film Institute.

More than 1,000 low-budget, diversely themed, and popular Taiwanese-language films were produced between 1956 and 1982, but with the government at the time strongly supporting Mandarin-language movies, these films were quickly forgotten, and only about 200 titles survived. Since 2013, the Taiwan Film Institute has been slowly restoring, repairing, and adding subtitles to reintroduce these films to the public.

Film professor at King's College London, Chris Berry, first discovered these Taiwanese-language films without subtitles at the Taiwan Film Institute's archives, but they left a deep impression on him. Ming-yeh Rawnsley (蔡明燁), a professor with the University of London's Center of Taiwan Studies, also began delving into these historical Taiwanese-language films. Together, along with the restoration and subtitling of these films, they pitched the idea for the "Taiwan's Lost Commercial Cinema: Restored and Recovered" project to showcase the films in Europe.

Beginning in 2017, the first edition put on 20 screenings at 10 locations, bringing together film scholars from Europe, North America, and Taiwan, and facilitating cultural exchanges at large universities across Europe with support from the European Association of Taiwan Studies (歐洲臺灣研究協會). They continued to tour the films across Europe on demand, establishing a reputation and branching out to arthouse theaters and film festivals.

Rawnsley has remarked that these films represent more than nostalgia for Taiwanese viewers; the program is also about rediscovering the past and reconfirming current identities. Moreover, these reels are valuable assets that hold historical and cultural significance.

For the 2020 edition, a symposium was launched at King's College London on Feb. 8, followed with screenings that took place at the University of London's School of Oriental & African Studies on Feb. 10 and 11. Each of the screenings and talks enjoyed a good turnout, hosted many students and audience members who have never seen early Taiwanese films, and gave rise to lively and enthusiastic discussions.

Unfortunately, in response to the threat of COVID-19, many of the scheduled film screenings were subsequently cancelled or postponed. The events in Lyon and Naples will be postponed to later this year and "Taiwan's Lost Commercial Cinema" has been postponed to 2021, when the "Cinema Rediscovered" festival resumes in Bristol.

For more information and updates, please visit the English-language event site at https://taiyupian.uk/.

The quarterly newsletter of the Taiwan Film Institute, which will soon be upgraded to the Taiwan Film and Audiovisual Institute, is available for download here.