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EDITORIAL: Film
industry deserves action
It is encouraging that Taiwanese have recently regained their interest in and
fervor for locally made films.
Since the blockbuster Cape No. 7 (海角七號) in 2008 — which was the most successful
Taiwanese film of recent years, taking nearly NT$530 million (US$18.3 million)
at the box office — a number of Taiwan-produced films, such as Monga (艋舺), Seven
Days in Heaven (父後七日) and Night Market Hero (雞排英雄) have also been well--received
and highly praised by both critics and the public.
This summer, Leaving Gracefully (帶一片風景走), The Killer Who Never Kills (殺手歐陽盆栽),
You Are The Apple Of My Eye (那些年，我們一起追的女孩) and Jump Ashin! (翻滾吧！阿信) have also
won high acclaim and performed strongly at the cinema.
And few people have failed to notice the public’s brewing excitement over the
upcoming release of the epic Taiwanese movie Seediq Bale (賽德克巴萊), one of this
year’s most highly anticipated movies, which has been nominated for the Golden
Lion Award at the Venice Film Festival.
Rounds of applause should be extended to all the Taiwanese filmmakers who have
quietly labored for their art in the face of Taiwan’s struggling film industry.
Thanks to their devotion and persistence, moviegoers have been able to regain
confidence in Taiwan-made films.
More Taiwanese are heading to the cinema, not just in blind support of locally
produced movies, but to truly appreciate the work of these talented Taiwanese
filmmakers.
It was therefore comforting to see President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) last week
acknowledge the hard work and dedication of the nation’s filmmakers by inviting
Seediq Bale director Wei Te-sheng (魏德聖) to appear in his weekly video broadcast.
Ma lauded the director for “his efforts in introducing the wider world to
Taiwanese history via the film.”
It was also very encouraging to see the Government Information Office on Monday
demonstrating its support for Taiwanese filmmakers by staging a large-scale
promotional event which introduced to the public a score of Taiwan-made movies
which are slated to hit movie theaters in the second half of this year.
Amid the cheers for the blossoming film industry, the government would be
well-advised to avoid riding the “summer-hit” bandwagon and merely giving
short-term attention to the industry.
The last thing that the nation’s filmmakers need from the government is to be
given false hope and fed empty words of support if they will only end up
disappointed when the interest is short-lived and the promises are forgotten.
Wei said that Taiwan “can’t simply copy the Hollywood model, but ... needs to
establish a film industry system that’s befitting of Taiwan. That is an issue
that the agencies governing film production and the like need to think about.”
The Government Information Office and related agencies would be of greater help
to the nation’s film industry if they, aside from continuing to provide
assistance and grants for Taiwanese filmmakers, mapped out a long-term strategy
to improve their service and substantiate their support for the industry to help
it grow.
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