As part of celebrations of the ROC centennial, the Cabinet-level Council for Cultural Affairs will fund a documentary film on Founding Father Sun Yat-sen, with a budget of NT$20 million (US$625,000).
The CCA will solicit proposals for the documentary, and the writer Ping Lu, who serves as executive consultant of the ROC Centenary Foundation, will produce the film, officials said.
After seven years of research, Ping published a novel about Sun and his wife Song Qingling, “Love and Revolution.”
“My idea for the documentary is to track the Founding Father’s footsteps and interpret his life from different historical perspectives,” Ping said. “I hope the documentary will be 100 minutes long and the type of film that can be shown in movie theaters.”
According to Ping, it is difficult to present Sun objectively in movies or TV dramas with a single script. Only a documentary film, collecting opinions and historical data from a range of scholars, can present diverse views, she noted.
Ping pointed out that the documentary will focus on Sun’s vision and humanity, a breakthrough from his past deification.
“From my point of view, Sun had a rough life, and experienced many frustrations. You can choose to scold him or to sympathize with him, and both perspectives can be presented in a documentary,” Ping said.
It had been reported that the government hoped to invite Oscar-winning director Ang Lee to direct or produce a movie on Sun’s life, and even that Taipei and Beijing would jointly produce such a film.
However, CCA Minister Emile Chih-jen Sheng said this documentary film will be the only one on Sun to be funded by the ROC government.
Ping said she has heard of mainland China’s plan to produce a film about Sun, but stressed that the thinking behind the films is different on each side of the Taiwan Strait, and she believes that the outcomes will be different as well.
“I’m sure the film by mainland China will present a predetermined government position, whereas we do not have a fixed answer,” she said.
Details on submitting proposals for the documentary will be announced at the end of August. “We hope the proposals can be as creative as possible. As there are no restrictions on nationality, submissions from foreigners are also welcome,” Ping said. (KML-THN)