After an initially successful run, Taiwan films are struggling to find an audience among their more glamorous and big-budgeted Hollywood cousins. Locally produced fare has been acknowledged to be culturally important, but what is being done to protect these treasures?
When the final credits rolled in the China Theater on June 22 this summer, only a handful of people were on hand to witness the closing of Taipei's oldest remaining cinema, one that showed Taiwan-made films exclusively. Built by the Japanese in 1937, this once popular venue in the bustling Hsimenting area of west Taipei attracted the notice of only a few passersby and curiosity seekers with cameras on its last day. "I remember when people lined up for hours to see my movie," says Lee You-ning, a local director referring to his 1985 film Old Mo's Second Spring. "Times have certainly changed. Today young people won't even consider seeing a locally made film."
Exceptions do occur, however, such as Lee Ang's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. The Oscar-winning movie earned a total of NT$96 million (US$2.78 million) in 2000 in Taipei City alone. But it is doubtful that the film would have been as successful without the international acclaim and fanfare. According to Lee You-ning, if a locally made movie can make NT$500,000 (US$14,490) at today's box office, it would be considered a modest success. By contrast, Old Mo's Second Spring took home NT$3 million (about US$75,000 at the 1985 exchange rate) on the first day of its release.
A vast majority of movie fans prefer imported entertainment, especially productions from Hollywood. According to the Taipei Motion Picture Dealers Association, the city's box-office revenues from foreign movies in 2000 reached NT$2.5 billion (US$73 million at the 2000 exchange rate). During the same period, Chinese-language films produced in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and mainland China earned only NT$185 million (US$5.4 million). In other words, 93 percent of movie theater revenues came from the showing of foreign productions last year.
Winston T.Y. Lee, director of the Chinese Taipei Film Archive, attributes the "total defeat" of Taiwanese films to the government's 1986 lifting of its quota on imported foreign movies. Since the mid-1980s, more theaters have been permitted to show overseas films and the maximum number of copies of each movie allowed for distribution was increased from three in 1984 to fifty-eight in 1999. It was also during this period of change that the Taiwan currency appreciated sharply against the greenback, giving theater owners added incentive to import more non-Taiwanese fare.
This liberalization of regulations, along with the proliferation of cheaply acquired Hollywood entertainment, has been roundly criticized by Taiwan film loyalists. "Movies are associated with cultural and national identification, so they should be protected and excluded from free trade provisions," remarks Liu Li-shing, secretary-general of the Motion Picture Development Foundation of the ROC. "If you allow US movies to freely invade the world, then the so-called global village would essentially be an American village."
Taiwan is well on its way to becoming "Americanized" in many respects, but this trend does not seem to be arousing great concern, Liu notes. He adds that US distributors derive more benefit than local theater owners in terms of revenue share. During a new film's first week of showing, distributors typically receive 70 percent of the ticket sales compared with theater owners' 30 percent. This ratio is adjusted in stages with distributors giving up 5 percent to theater owners each subsequent week. But distributors usually come out ahead in this numbers game as many Taiwan moviegoers prefer to be among the first to see a new release.
Liu also complains of the unfair advantage distributors have over local theater owners compared with other countries in the region. For instance, Japan's and South Korea's profit-sharing ratio is generally 60-to-40, Singapore's and Thailand's is 50-to-50, and mainland China's is 10-to-90, according to Yang I-ping, chairman of the Taipei Motion Picture Dealers Association. Liu points to the success countries such as France and South Korea have had in protecting their local industries.
The decline of the local film industry does not mean the island is incapable of producing good movies. Indeed, many Taiwan directors have won major awards at renowned international film festivals. At the same time, the Motion Picture Affairs Department of the Government Information Office (GIO) has been encouraging home-grown talent by offering financial aid. Since 1990 the office has granted subsidies to applicants with deserving film projects. This year five applicants each received NT$5 million (US$145,000), and another five each received NT$10 million (US$290,000). The Motion Picture Development Foundation, established in 1975 and funded mainly by the GIO to review applications for subsidies among other related tasks, granted financial assistance to short-film and documentary makers between 1991 and 1997. The government office took over in 1998 and has issued NT$8 million (US$232,000) in grants this year.
The GIO has also allocated a total of NT$50 million (US$1.45 million) for the improvement of Taiwan's post-production facilities in 2000 and 2001. In the past, local motion picture producers were forced to go abroad to complete their films due to a lack of proper equipment on the island. The government hopes that its contributions will help cut production costs and give a boost to the local movie industry. Also during the last two years, NT$20 million (US$580,000) was spent subsidizing seven theaters in four major cities across Taiwan that show only locally produced films. The department also pays for local movies to enter international film festivals, promotes candidates nominated for awards on such occasions, and offers prize money to films that are nominated or win international awards.
Other efforts to promote the local industry include the GIO's launch of the Golden Horse Awards in 1962. Administration of the prizes, Taiwan's equivalent of the Academy Awards, has been commissioned to the Motion Picture Development Foundation since 1990. From 1997, the competition has been extended to welcome all Chinese-language films, including those made in mainland China, in the hopes of internationalizing the event. And to introduce moviegoers to a greater variety of films, the GIO began holding the Golden Horse Film Festival in 1980 as an annual event. "Prior to this film festival, there was virtually no market in Taiwan for European films," Winston Lee notes. "The festival helps foster the interest of both audiences and importers. And I believe many Taiwanese directors have been inspired by these movies."
Appreciation of motion pictures has also been aided by the relaxation of government censorship. Audiences are no longer mystified by developments in the story line due to missing segments of censored footage involving nudity. Political restrictions have also eased. In 1989, two years after martial law was lifted, filmmaker Hou Hsiao-hsien completed A City of Sadness. It gave local and international audiences insight into the formerly taboo February 28 Incident, involving government suppression of native Taiwanese in 1947. The movie won the best film award at the Cannes Film Festival and marked the first major victory for a Taiwan-made film in an international event.
The government has also undertaken the task of preserving the local film culture. Funded by the GIO and the Council for Cultural Affairs (CCA), the Chinese Taipei Film Archive acquires, restores, and catalogs locally made movies from years gone by as well as artifacts related to the industry like posters, props, and projectors. The Archive also publishes related periodicals and in 2002 is scheduled to complete a reference book chronicling major events in local film history. Additionally, the organization screens both local and foreign films related to selected subjects every two months, and is planning to show locally produced films from its archives in theaters around the island beginning next year.
Some local governments have also taken an active role in promoting Taiwan-made films. In May 2000 the Hsinchu City Government founded the Hsinchu Municipal Image Museum in an old theater built by the Japanese during the colonial occupation (1895-1945). It shows local and foreign movies from the past and more recent documentaries, as well as art and commercial films. The museum allows visitors to get a closer look at the art of filmmaking, and is one of the few places on the island where people can learn how the industry developed over time. According to Lin Chen-wen, the museum's director, between May 2000 and May 2001 the number of visitors reached 100,000. Although the museum currently offers free admission, budgetary concerns may force it to begin charging an entry fee next year.
Another local government effort is the capital's Taipei Film Festival. The event has been held every year since 1998, with the exception of this year, at a cost of about NT$30 million (US$870,000) annually. The ten- to twelve-day event was previously organized by the city's Information Department, but will be held by the Cultural Affairs Bureau starting in 2002. The festival features movies and competitions, including a contest for international film students.
Despite continued efforts to improve the local film industry, results have been slow in appearing. "The government budget for cultural affairs is small, and promoting the movie industry is certainly not a priority," Winston Lee notes. For example, between NT$45 million and $50 million (US$1.3 million and $1.45 million) was required for this year's Chinese Taipei Film Archive budget, but only NT$30 million (US$870,000) was appropriated. Funding shortages have forced the Archive to abandon some of its projects or leave them only partially finished, Lee adds. For instance, the organization had planned to feature a compilation of interviews with former directors, actors, and technicians to illustrate the industry's development, but had to scrap some of the interviews due to the lack of funds.
The Hsinchu Municipal Image Museum is another institute suffering from a shortage of financing. Director Lin Chen-wen says the Hsinchu government is considering cutting a significant portion of its NT$20 million (US$580,000) budget in 2002. "I don't understand why some officials would want to slash a budget that's already so low. It costs a lot more to build a road than to promote cultural activities," Lin says. "Cuts in cultural activities will leave deep and long-lasting effects on the society."
But subsidizing the industry brings its own problems. Peggy Chiao, a film producer, believes the government has lost its focus as it indiscriminately grants subsidies to commercial as well as noncommercial films. "The government should subsidize worthwhile films and create a favorable environment for investors of commercial films," Chiao suggests. She adds that the selection process for subsidies is unfair as it is often based on subjective opinions of the judges rather than objective factors.
Financial disadvantages are stacked against the production of local films, even in the area of tax breaks for film investors. Liu Li-shing of the Motion Picture Development Foundation believes laws concerning film investor tax benefits should be amended. As it stands, the Motion Picture Law places movies under the category of "cultural assets," which should be supported by the government, but investors in the film industry receive no tax benefits. "Every segment of this industry--producers, distributors, and theater owners--pays related taxes," Liu states. "It seems as if the government believes the local film industry doesn't need any assistance." He adds that taxes are even charged on the subsidies granted to filmmakers. "There doesn't appear to be a comprehensive policy to assist the local film industry."
As a culturally diverse and democratic society, Taiwan could be an ideal place to make films, but the general consensus in the industry is that this is not the case. "The creative power in the field of cinema is tremendous, but the environment is not favorable. For example, with a few exceptions like the Hsinchu Municipal Image Museum, there are too few venues where noncommercial films, especially locally made ones, are shown," says Singing Chen, a director of documentaries. To help correct the situation, several directors organized a week-long short-film festival called the Purely Sixteen Film Festival in 2000. According to Chen, most of the showings were to full houses and the event was extended a week to accommodate the audience interest. The festival was so successful that the organizers held another similar event in October this year.
Short films and documentaries are an important aspect of the industry because many directors get their start in these genres. "Much credit should go to Public TV as it's been an important producer of documentaries," notes Chen, who has contributed films to the nonprofit channel. Another advance has been the establishment of the Graduate Institute of Sound and Image Studies in Documentaries in 1996 at the National Tainan College of Arts. This school is the first of its kind in Taiwan and aims to nurture documentary makers at the graduate level and help create more venues for short films and documentaries to be appreciated.
That graduate institute will not be alone for long. The Taipei National University of the Arts plans to establish a film college in 2003, comprised of an undergraduate department and a graduate school. "Taiwan's education system should emphasize the appreciation of cultural affairs and the art of cinema as early as the elementary-school level," Winston Lee says. "By doing so, you can cultivate movie lovers and create a venue where art films can develop." He adds that France has had a measure of success in this respect.
An equally important task, in Peggy Chiao's opinion, is to shift the management of motion picture affairs from the GIO to the CCA, which is scheduled to be upgraded to a ministry. Winston Lee concurs. "The CCA should oversee the film industry since its mission is to protect cultural assets," he says. At present, the revised Organic Law of the CCA, putting film-related matter under its jurisdiction, has passed the first reading in the Legislative Yuan. Once the statutory hurdle is passed, film industry participants expect to see an improvement in the government's handling of their affairs. And perhaps one day, a successor to the China Theater will open to a wide and appreciative audience applauding the release of locally produced movies.