President Tsai Ing-wen has lauded the launch of a new film institute as a milestone in the preservation of Taiwan’s cinematic heritage. Tsai was speaking Friday, as the Taiwan Film and Audiovisual Institute moved into its new home.
The institute has existed under various names for several decades, but the culture ministry promoted it from an incorporated foundation to the status of a public administrative body in 2020.
The institute is charged with archiving, protecting, and preserving important pieces of Taiwan’s film, television, and broadcast history.
Tsai thanked the institute for its work, and said that it has begun digitizing films, adding to its existing work in cataloging, restoring, and promoting classic films. She mentioned one such recently digitized film, the late director King Hu’s 1971 movie “A Touch of Zen”. She said that in 1980, while she was studying in the UK, she saw the film broadcast on British television, something that left a deep impression on her as a student from Taiwan.
She said the institute’s work not only deepens the foundation of Taiwanese film but also lets friends from abroad see classic Taiwanese movies and become more familiar with Taiwan.