台灣評論 (英文版) 1-2月號/2018

Cinema is an indelible part of Taiwan’s cultural fabric. The country’s long and proud filmmaking heritage includes movies produced in the 1950s and 1960s in Holo, the language of Taiwan’s largest ethnic group, Mandarin-language melodramas and martial arts classics of the 1970s, and the internationally renowned art house masterpieces of the 1980s new wave movement. Taiwan’s enduring impact on the craft is most visible today in the global reputations of auteurs like Ang Lee (李安), Hou Hsiao-hsien (侯孝賢) and Tsai Ming-liang (蔡明亮), as well as its hosting of the annual Golden Horse Awards, the Oscars of the Chinese-speaking world.
While the nation’s appetite for movies has never waned, the local film production sector faced a reckoning after the turn of the century as box office receipts for domestic works fell to about 1-2 percent of the total. Yet over the past decade, the industry has rebounded impressively from this nadir. By telling engaging local stories in a contemporary Taiwan vernacular, a new generation of talents is striking a balance between artistic creativity and commercial viability. Owing to this approach, domestically produced works are expected to account for over 15 percent of box office revenues in 2017, according to the Bureau of Audiovisual and Music Industry Development under the Ministry of Culture (MOC).
This resurgence has been supported by a variety of government initiatives to promote cultural creativity in media production. At the forefront of these efforts are MOC subsidy programs for film and TV projects. Offering up to NT＄30 million (US＄1 million) per movie or NT＄3 million (US＄100,000) per hourlong episode, the ministry’s grants provided partial capital for many of the most acclaimed and commercially successful Taiwan works of recent years, including the two top prizewinners at the 2017 Golden Horse Awards, “The Bold, the Corrupt and the Beautiful” and “The Great Buddha+.”
These programs are complemented by efforts to bolster private sector funding. Last year, the MOC launched the Office of Professional Assistance in Audiovisual Industry Investment and Financing to foster communication with banks and investors so as to help ease local studios’ longstanding difficulties in securing capital. In addition, the office has some 130 consultants on standby to assist production companies with issues like loan applications, marketing plans and screenwriting.
The MOC also oversees joint public-private sector investments in emerging studios and promising projects. Under this program, the ministry screens applications from venture capital funds and authorizes government backing comprising up to 75 percent of the total proposed investment amount.
Such efforts to raise the quality of film and TV productions are boosting Taiwan’s soft power, as evidenced by the growing international appetite for local shows. Late last year, hit Taiwan drama “A Good Wife” began airing in the Caribbean and Latin America through a Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) program to strengthen awareness of the nation’s pop culture.
The series is scheduled to appear on 18 networks in 14 countries such as Republic of China (Taiwan) diplomatic allies El Salvador, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Honduras, as well as friendly nations like Argentina. This marks the third time that the MOFA has introduced a Taiwan series to Latin America after “The Fierce Wife” and “The Way We Were” screened to critical acclaim and high ratings in 2015 and 2016, respectively.
As a vibrant liberal democratic society, Taiwan welcomes and respects diverse voices, providing fertile soil for the cultivation of innovative cultural and creative projects. The resurgent interest in local films and TV shows demonstrates that with government support and private sector investment, Taiwan has the environment, creativity and talent to sustain an artistically influential and internationally prosperous media production sector.
 

台灣評論是專為國際人士提供各個方面探討台灣包括政治、經濟、社會、環境和藝術的園地，由中華民國外交部所編輯發行的一本官方月物。這本印刷品主要是供應全世界各地讀者想針對台灣有更快速與更進一步認識所編輯的。內容則包括提供台灣當前的政治、外交、文化和經濟發展趨勢與分析。透過本刊，可以讓國外讀者正確認識台灣，對於開創政經交流更能夠掌握先機，縮短各國與台灣之間的距離。對於介紹外國朋友認識台灣，這是一個絕佳的工具。