Home>Brave Attack on Chinese Taipei Film Archive!

Brave Attack on Chinese Taipei Film Archive!

“Gan Yichang Shishikan” means “Take your chance” or “Nothing ventured, nothing gained” in Chinese. I think I did something quite rude to the Chinese Taipei Film Archive (CTFA) . The reason is because I visited there without making an appointment, just with a big grin on my face, and said, “Excuse me… can I take a look inside of the archive, as I’m very interested?”. The receptionist at the entrance was a little suspicious about this impolite Japanese girl at first; however, after she understood I’m a student studying film preservation, she accepted me with good grace. I was even allowed to take pictures if there was a staff member present. On the walls there are a lot of notices from the government, which made me so sure that this “Chinese Taipei Film Archive” is a governmental organization, but I was surprised at its very frank attitude. Probably it was because I’m a student, and can speak Chinese a little, but even so… Anyway, I entered the CTFA after I checked my passport in.

I guess this open-mindedness is based on its very casual environment. CTFA is located in part of a very old building. which is nothing special compared to ordinary Taiwanese firms. Staff members are in casual clothes, and working cheerfully and clattering away. This atmosphere is not really bureaucratic but more like a film-related seminar at the University or somewhere. Once inside, to the left of the main entrance there is a small screening room (about 50 seats). If you go right there is a library and a reference counter. And in the video booth, there was a young Taiwanese girl watching Mikio Naruse’s “Floating Clouds (1955)”. They showed me a storeroom for books but it wasn’t that big. 

Compared to the National Film Center in Tokyo, which is a leading film archive in Japan and has a beautiful building of 7 floors in all, CTFA didn’t look like a “national” film archive to me. Eventually this skepticism was overturned by the hidden truth of CTFA but I’ll write about it later. On that day, the screening room was holding a “French-speaking Film Festival” and showing films from French-speaking countries such as Canada, Rep. of Senegal or Burkina Faso. I found some westerners in the audience. This program is free of charge, and anyone over the age of 18 can get in if you book a seat in advance. When I was taking a picture of the entrance, I caught the eye of a guy who was carrying the film cans from inside. He smiled nicely at me pottering around with a camera. I wonder if the films were stored inside? I checked it later, and got to know the film vault is located in the suburbs of Taipei (No.9 Chong-xin town Shu-lin Taipei), which is not only for films but also for books and film posters. I hope I can go there next time I’m in Taiwan, but it won’t be as easy as this time. “What good luck I had today”. After looking around the inside, I thanked all the staff members including the receptionist who gave me her kind permission for the tour. Leaving the building which CTFA is in, I took a look at the guide book. Well, it seems there’s another big film related institution in Taiwan which is called “SPOT-Taipei Film House”. House? Is it something like a cinema complex? I wasn’t sure but I decided to head out to “SPOT-Taipei Film House”. * * * * I was a bit skeptical about the unusual name “SPOT-Taipei Film House” but took a taxi and went ahead to ZhongShan anyway, which is located in the center of Taipei city. There you can find duty free shops, five star hotels and western brand shops. It’s a really fashionable area similar to Aoyama or Daikanyama in Japan, I guess. My destination, “SPOT-Taipei Film House”, is in this ZhongShan area. I got out of the taxi and sneaked into the road behind the ZhongShan N. Rd., which is lined with trees and brand shops, where you’ll find yourself in a nice and quiet housing area. Surprisingly, it was a luxurious house. It’s not so vast but the white building and green grassy carpet made me feel as if I were in a movie.

“SPOT-Taipei Film House” is a former US official residence, but had been abandoned since the US and Taiwan broke off diplomatic relations in 1979. In November 2002, the house was renovated and revived as a center of film art. At the moment, Taiwan Film and Culture Society runs this facility under commission from The Department of Cultural Affairs, Taipei City Government. The head is a film director, Hou Hsiao-Hsien. Entering the gate, you’ll find an open terraced cafe. Passing through the cafe, there’s the entrance to the mini theater (88 seats). According to the program, it seems they show films six times a day, from lunch time to midnight. The last show is from 22:30! It means you can have time for dinner and being relaxed before the movie. When I visited there, “The Canadian Film Festival” was on and the tickets were 170 RMB (about 590 Yen) for membership holders. You can book tickets through the internet. Sometimes tickets sold out in the case of popular programs. On your right hand at the entrance, there is a satellite shop of the big Taiwanese bookstore chain, Eslite Books, where you can get a wide range of domestic/international cinema related books, magazines, and DVDs. Akira Kurosawa, Fellini related books were easily found. Even some Japanese magazines, too. Oh well, I was looking around worrying this place might be emptying my wallet, and found out something unexpected in the film history section, which was “The Death of Cinema History, Cultural Memory and the Digital Dark Age” by Paolo… Paolo? Is this an icon in the film preservation world (I only know his name but) Paolo Cherchi Usai? Wow! Chinese translation! It’s my pain all the time, when it comes to film preservation, there’re only English books available. I suddenly envy Taiwanese people, and how advanced Taiwan is. By the way, the translator is Prof. Chen Ru Xiu, the chairman of the Motion Picture Department in National Taiwan College of Arts. As I expected I was totally broke at the bookshop. I left the shop with bags full of books. Across from the booksotre, it means on your left at the entrance, there’s a fashionable cafe with white interiors. An intelligent looking woman was enjoying having coffee with a westerner. At the same time, very typical Taiwanese junior high students were hanging around with notebooks. It seems they are on their field trip or something. 

There are a lot of film posters along the stairs to the second floor. The ceiling is decorated with the faces of Chinese movie stars. Fae in the back, there’s a retro looking bar. I went there in daytime, so I couldn’t get in but probably you can have wine or something on the couch or at the counter. Actually, this is an art space, focusing on moving image, and a date spot at the same time. You can have cappuchino while reading film related books from the bookstore, and enjoy film shows at night on the big screen, and afterwards you can talk about films you saw at the bar, with a glass of wine. Plus, students can visit here in sportswear and enjoy rare films which are a bit different from cinemas in the street, and finish off their assignments, talking to each other. I checked the past programs, and learned they are stunningly varied. Taiwan vs Southern Europe, European films for family, Kim Ki-Duk + I Jae-Yong, Ghost films, Taiwan vs India, Yasujiro Ozu etc. etc. You can enjoy this variety of films until very late at night and even drink! I stayed there only for one hour but even in the weekday’s daytime, a lot of visitors from students to elders, were in the “SPOT-Taipei Film House”. Not only for the films but just popping in while having a walk. I think it’s just an extention of their daily life. Just walking for nothing, found a nice building and went in, then the films were shown from all over the wold, old and new, there’re books, and the space for having a chat. In Taiwan, there ’s such a place for cinematic experience merged with daily life as well as cinemas. You might envy this or you might think “so what?”, I don’t know, but as a film fan, I really want to go to “SPOT-Taipei Film House” again. As with “CTFA” in part 1, “SPOT-Taipei Film House” was very open minded. I felt a “welcoming everybody!” atmosphere. There is a huge gate at “SPOT-Taipei Film House”, but the gate was literally widely open during the opening hours. Of course you’d love Chinese food and massage if you’re travelling in Taiwan, but I hope some of you will think about “SPOT-Taipei Film House” as well. The door is always open for you. (A) (from Mail Magazine “FPS” vol.0, vol.1)