Kuan clarifies Golden Horse comments

By Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) yesterday denied reports that she had apologized over her proposal to scrap the Golden Horse Awards after Taiwan’s poor showing this year.

Earlier in the day, Kuan said she would shoulder all the responsibility for the comments, adding that the organizing committee, as well as the Ministry of Culture, should also be scrutinized for their performance.

2012 ELECTIONS: Tsai HQ plans to screen 10 movies before Dec. 30

By Chris Wang  /  Staff Reporter

The campaign office of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) plans to screen 10 films before Dec. 30, among them Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, a 1991 film featuring Hollywood star Kevin Costner, the office said yesterday.

The US film is the only non-Taiwanese production, said Lin He-ming (林鶴明), deputy director of the campaign’s youth development department, adding that the films would be screened at the campaign headquarters in Banciao District (板橋), New Taipei City (新北市), on Fridays and Saturdays.

Ma, Tsai attend ‘Seediq Bale’ premiere

LESSON LEARNED?：Following a security breach at a Tsai event on Friday, about 200 police and a support unit were dispatched to the Ketagalan Boulevard screening
By Chang Wen-chuan, Chris Wang  /  Staff Reporters, with CNA
Mon, Sep 05, 2011 - Page 1

One day after Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) was accosted by a woman on stage, security was clearly tightened yesterday evening when both presidential candidate Tsai and President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) showed up for a special screening of the Taiwanese movie Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale (彩虹戰士:賽德克巴萊) at the Presidential Office plaza on Ketagalan Boulevard.

National Security Bureau (NSB) Director Tsai Der-sheng (蔡得勝) personally presided over security at the venue, saying he would rather “security measures are overly stringent than too lax.”

According to Taipei City Police Headquarter’s Chungcheng First Precinct, about 200 officers were dispatched to police the area around the venue, in addition to the Mobile Division sent by Taipei City Police Headquarters as back-up. Agents from the bureau and National Property Administration (NPA), were in charge of security inside the venue.

Ma, who is seeking re-election, and Tsai, did not cross paths at the event because they arrived at the -screening from different entrances and were seated in separate areas.

At 5:50pm, shortly before the premiere was scheduled to start, 50-year-old Lo Pei-chin (羅佩秦), who insists he is running in the presidential election despite not having registered, showed up with a microphone and shouted: “I am running for president and I should also be let in to see the Seediq Bale premiere.”

He was intercepted by police who escorted him to Taipei Main Station and saw him onto the High Speed Rail back to Kaohsiung.

Earlier yesterday, Tsai, -referring to Friday’s incident in which a woman rushed onto the stage and grabbed her by the arm shortly after she had finished giving a speech at an event in Greater Taichung, said the incident reflected serious security failings.

The woman, who is from China and is married to a Taiwanese, is well known in Taichung for her constant protests over a medical dispute, but was still able to directly access the stage without any security checks, Tsai said.

According to Huang Ching-fu (黃清福), a section chief at the NPA, the agency has assigned four male and two female bodyguards to Tsai, but her security detail will be expanded to 12 people daily after Nov. 21 when Tsai formally registers her presidential candidacy with the Central Election Commission.

Tsai said the NPA was not the only agency that needs to review security deployments.

All security procedures and the national security authority need to be reviewed, she said.

“The issue does not lie in how many security personnel were deployed, but in how intelligence was integrated and how the security procedures were implemented,” she said.

The bureau said yesterday that a team that will be responsible for the security for all presidential candidates was undergoing intense training, with particular focus on preventing close distance gunshots and nighttime security.

The team was expected to complete its training early next month and the bureau said it would hold a ceremony to formally announce the establishment of security details for the presidential candidates.

According to the bureau, the Special Service Center has organized four live fire exercises in Taipei, Greater Taichung and Greater Kaohsiung. Those exercises simulate scenarios where candidates canvass the public, in a night market, on campaign stages and on foot.

The bureau added it planned to form a total of 10 security stations near candidates’ residences, campaign headquarters and places of importance nationwide.

Anti-death penalty group organizes film festival to seek change

Taipei, Oct. 7 (CNA) An anti-death penalty group announced an annual film festival Thursday and called for the abolition of capital punishment, three days before the Oct. 10 World Day Against the Death Penalty.

Taiwan Alliance to End the Death Penalty (TAEDP) Executive Director Lin Hsin-yi announced that the 2010 Murder by Numbers Film Festival will screen nine death penalty-related films from Germany, Japan, Iran, Hong Kong, France, India, Taiwan and the United States in Taipei, Hsinchu and on university campuses around the country from Oct. 8-24.

"We would like to call for an immediate moratorium on executions and implementation of reasonable punishment and victim protection, as well as call attention to the importance of judicial justice and scientific analysis, " she said.

The film festival will serve as a platform for dialogue between those who support and those who oppose the death penalty, Lin said, adding that the dialogue mechanism is especially needed after heated debate about the issue earlier this year.

Taiwan's execution of four prisoners April 30, which ended a five-year moratorium on the death penalty, drew criticism from various countries and international organizations and ignited nationwide discussion on the Internet and in the media, she said.

The festival is also intended to focus on the issue of state violence by reviewing the triangular relations between the government, its people and the death penalty, Yen Chueh-an, a professor at National Taiwan University, said in a press conference organized by the TAEDP and other civic groups.

Kao Yung-cheng, head of the Judicial Reform Foundation, said he was happy to see that discussion of the issue has become more intense.

According to Kao, "executions have been halted for now, but I'm not sure what will happen after the European Union approves visa-free privileges in the Schengen Area for Taiwanese travelers," he said.

The EU expressed disappointment with Taiwan after the April 30 executions. It has said that the visa-free treatment and the death penalty are separate issues, but there have been assumptions in Taiwan that the prolonged review process of the privileges is related to the executions.

World Day Against the Death Penalty was launched in 2003 by the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty. The program this year focuses on the United States, one of the few developed countries that has refused to abolish capital punishment. (By Chris Wang) ENDITEM/J

Documentary shows Taiwan's role in WWII

Taipei, May 6 (CNA) A documentary compiled from thousands of hours of original footage from the World War II era that is to be shown in Taiwan is designed to show viewers the brutal war as a part of Taiwan's history and as it really happened, a political commentator said Thursday.

Taiwan, as a part of Japanese territory at the time, was a part of WWII and this should not be forgotten, said Cheng Hung-yi, a reporter-turned-TV commentator, in a press conference to announce the release of "WWII Lost Films, " a History Channel production.

The 10-part high definition film, which uses first-person narrative and diaries from the time to tell the stories of 12 Americans who experienced the war in Europe and the Pacific first-hand, will be shown on Taiwan's digital television channel May 10-14.

"History should be a mix of everything that has happened -- the good and the bad, " said Cheng, who recounted a story of his uncle, who served as a Japanese soldier in the Pacific War, in his review of the documentary.

"My uncle told me that Japanese soldiers were told to never surrender to the Americans because they were expected to be treated with no mercy and even be killed. Eventually he was captured and found out that the Americans provided the prisoners of war -- who had been starving prior to their capture -- with beef and milk, " he said.

The story shows how real history can be distorted and why people, and especially the media, should view and record history objectively, he added.

Taiwan's role in WWII remains a sensitive and controversial issue in local textbooks because political issues were involved, Cheng noted. However, he went on, the experiences of Taiwanese who served in the Japanese Imperial Army and fought against China in the Sino-Japanese War should be documented without prejudice because they were all real-life experiences and part of life for that generation.

The rare footage, some of which has not seen since the 1940s, draws upon more than 3,000 hours of film from archives and private collections across the globe, said Rosanne Lu, marketing director of AETN All Asia Network, which represents the History Channel in Asia. (By Chris Wang) ENDITEM/J

AIT announces Taiwan finalists for 2010 democracy video challenge

Taipei, April 20 (CNA) Three short films were chosen as Taiwan's finalists for the 2010 Democracy Video Challenge, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) announced at an awards ceremony Tuesday.

The Democracy Video Challenge, a worldwide U.S. Department of State competition, asks filmmakers, democracy advocates, and the general public to create three-minute videos that complete the phrase, "Democracy is..." "We thank these young filmmakers for taking part in the Democracy Video Challenge, and for sharing their talents and perspectives with us, " said William Stanton, the director of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Taipei office.

"Democracy is but one of many key fundamental values shared by the United States and Taiwan, and I am pleased by the level of dialogue on this issue that the Challenge attracted," he added.

Stanton and Taiwan Foundation for Democracy President Huang Teh-Fu presented certificates and awarded prizes of NT$10,000 each to Ho Sen-yi, Lin Yu-sheng and Lai Yu-yao for their films.

According to the AIT, the competition received 17 submissions this year in Taiwan. One of the Taiwan finalists was chosen through voting by AIT's Facebook fans, while the other two were chosen by a panel.

A total of 470 entries from 88 countries were received by the American government this year.

The three films from Taiwan are now being evaluated by a panel of judges in the U.S., the AIT said, and are eligible to be chosen as among the finalists for the East Asia and Pacific region.

The winning videos will be selected by global online voting between May 15 to June 15. The video platform will be provided by YouTube.

The Challenge will honor seven winning videos worldwide, with one winner each from Sub-Saharan Africa, East Asia and the Pacific, Europe, the Near East and North Africa, South and Central Asia, and the Western Hemisphere, and one anonymous video winner. (By Chris Wang) enditem/ls

Thailand Week 2010 concludes with food fair

Taipei, March 27 (CNA) A food and products fair was launched Saturday in Taipei as the final event in "Thailand Week 2010, " which was aimed at promoting better understanding of the Southeast Asian country.

At the fair, some 20 booths in the plaza in front of Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall in downtown Taipei offered food, handicraft, and tourism and visa services.

"The purpose of this event is not only to promote Thailand tourism and food, but also to showcase every aspect of Thailand to the people of Taiwan and others who are currently in Taipei, " said Arbhorn Manasvanich, Executive Director of the Thailand Trade and Economic Office (TTEO).

The Thailand Food and Products Fair, which will run through Sunday, is the final event in a series of activities to celebrate 2010 Thailand Week from March 20-28.

The activities included a Thai classical dance performance in Yilan and Taipei, the screening of a Thai movie "Homrong, " and an investment seminar at which several Taiwanese businesses from the alternative energy and pharmaceutical sectors expressed interest in investing in Thailand, Manasvanich said.

At Saturday's food event, the chef who demonstrated how to make traditional Thai dishes such as green curry, spicy shrimp and lemongrass salad was none other than the representative herself.

Manasvanich said she was quite impressed with the participation in and responses to the event, which is being held for the second year.

The fair attracted Taiwanese visitors, Thai workers in Taiwan, and a group of Thai students who are in Taiwan on a two-month language program.

Stressing the importance of friendship between the two countries, Manasvanich noted said they have similar cultures and lifestyles.

"Apart from the observance of Buddhism (in Taiwan) , the way of life is very similar in Thailand and Taiwan," she said.

"In addition, some people always get Thailand and Taiwan mixed up. That tells you we're quite close to each other, " she said jokingly.

"Add to that the fact that an estimated 300,000 Taiwanese tourists visit Thailand every year, we feel like neighbors although we don't share a border," she said.

The TTEO is planning to organize another fair in October and other cultural programs later this year, Manasvanich said, adding that 2011 Thailand Week will be the biggest TTEO event ever.

The office is also trying to promote Thai rice -- which Manasvanich says makes Thai dishes taste better -- as there are now Thai restaurants almost everywhere in Taiwan.

Another area that the office is looking at is collaboration between the Taiwanese and Thai film industries.

Manasvanich said she doesn't know why most Thai movies being screened in Taiwan's theaters and on television movie channels are horror films.

"We have many kinds of movies, not just horror movies. It may be a good idea to organize a film festival in the future," she said. (By Chris Wang) enditem /pc

Campus film festival aimed at enhancing understanding of Europe

Taipei, Nov. 28 (CNA) An annual European film festival will take place this year on various university campuses throughout the nation in hopes of increasing Taiwan's understanding to the European Union, the head of the European Economic and Trade Office (EETO) in Taipei said Wednesday.

"There is no better way to understand the culture of a country than through watching films, because audiences can see the people, places, architecture and way of life in a movie, " said Guy Ledoux, who is the top EU representative in Taiwan.

The main purpose of the Dec.3-23 film festival, which is now in its third year, is increasing the Taiwanese people's understanding of Europe, Ledoux said.

A total of 10 films, representing 10 of the 15 EU member states with offices in Taiwan, will be screened during the third Taiwan European Film Festival, which was launched in 2005.

One difference this year is that organizers will be screening the films on university campuses rather than theaters with the idea of targeting university students.

"Hopefully, students will get a feeling of what Europe is like by watching the films and become interested in studying in European countries after graduation, " said Cedric Alviani, General Director of Infine Art and Culture Exchange, the co-organizer of the event.

For movie lovers and Taiwanese film workers, the film festival also presents a great opportunity to appreciate the works of some bright, young European directors, Alviani said.

A wide variety of topics are featured in the 10 films, which are being made available to Taiwanese audience with the assistance of various foreign representative offices, Ledoux said. The Polish film "Chopin: Desire for Love" portrays a love affair of well-known Polish piano composer Frederic Chopin, while "The Lives of Others, " an Academy-award winning German film, tells the story of East Germany's secret police, he said.

People say there are 27 member states in the EU, which makes it difficult to understand them all, Ledoux said.

"But that's exactly what's distinctive about the European Union. We [the EU] let all the countries be themselves, enjoy their traditions, and at the same time try to work together to make people's lives better, " he added.

Films will be screened at 12 universities: Soochow University, National Cheng Chi University, Shih Hsin University, Chinese Culture University, National Taiwan Normal University, Central University, Tunghai University, Providence University, National Chung Cheng University, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan University of the Arts and Wenzao Ursuline College of Languages, and also at the Image Museum of Hsinchu City and Kaohsiung Film Archive.

All films will be screened on DVDs, some without Chinese subtitles due to copyright issues, Alviani said.

Film festival organizers call for Taiwan to abolish death penalty

Taipei, Oct. 19 (CNA) Taiwan should follow the global trend and abolish the death penalty, human rights advocates said at a film festival screening death penalty-related movies from various countries.

"The government always said death penalties were imposed in the name of the people, which means each and every one of us played a role in the execution of death row inmates. But did we really authorize the government to do that for us? " said Kao Yong-cheng, a lawyer who represented Human Rights Protection Committee of the Taipei Bar Association on the sidelines of the second "Murder by Numbers" film festival.

The festival, which was organized by Taiwan Alliance to End the Death Penalty (TAEDP) , screened nine documentary films from Italy, France, Sweden, Denmark, India and the U.S., which all focused on the issue of death penalty.

There is a global trend to abolish the death penalty, said Italian director Mario Marazziti, whose film "Thou Shall Not Kill" is being screened. He noted that the death penalty has been abolished in more than 90 countries, and that there are 43 countries where there has not been a single execution in the past 10 years.

One of the films, "Un Abolistionniste: Robert Badinter, " documents the life story of Badinter, a high-profile French criminal lawyer, university professor and politician known for his struggle against the death penalty. The death penalty was abolished when Badinter served as Minister of Justice in 1981.

It took France almost 200 years to abolish the death penalty, showing that how difficult it is to tackle the issue, said Jean-Claude Poimbeouf, director of French Institute in Taiwan.

The penalty has always been a political issue, which is why it will take political measures to deal with the issue, Poimbeouf said, adding that most Taiwanese political leaders have a background in the practice of law and that they should reconsider abolishing the ultimate punishment given their expertise in both politics and law.

Most people think that crime rates will increase once the penalty is abolished, but this idea is false, said Go Yu-ling, Secretary-General of Taiwan International Workers' Association. In fact, surveys in various countries showed that crime rates did not rise after the abolition of the death penalty.

The festival, which was previously held in 2004, has been relatively successful, having doubled its viewership, said TAEDP executive director Lin Hsin-yi. The films are being shown in Kaohsiung this week after having been first shown in Taipei last week.

Picture book, exhibition to help Taiwan children understand Europe

Taipei, Oct. 19 (CNA) Explaining what the European Union (EU) is to adults is difficult enough, let alone explaining it to children, but there is no better way to introduce the EU to children in Taiwan than with a picture book, an EU official in Taiwan said Friday.

Speaking to a group of kindergarten children at the Taipei Public Library, Guy Ledoux, head of the European Economic and Trade Office (EETO) in Taiwan, described the EU as "a big family of 27 children with different habits, but they have to obey the same rules."

Ledoux and French Institute in Taiwan Director Jean-Claude Poimbeouf were among a group of European representatives who launched an exhibition featuring the children's picture book "Petits Europeens (Little Europeans)", by French illustrator Nicole Lambert.

In 60 boards with texts in Chinese, Taiwan citizens will be able to explore the work of Lambert, an illustrator best known for her devotion to children's picture books.

"I hope that many children from Taiwan will visit the exhibition and will learn more about Europe. I hope that when they grow up and become students, some will come and study in Europe and see for themselves the great diversity of European countries and enjoy the various landscape, food and tradition, " Ledoux said.

The book tried to introduce background information, stories and traditions of the 27 EU member states to children around the world. The educational effort is part of a series of events the EETO has organized to help the people of Taiwan understand more about Europe, and to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the EU.

The EETO will organize a European Film Festival in 12 universities later this year.

Ethnographic film festival to feature indigenous culture, diversity

Taipei, Sept. 28 (CNA) A biennial ethnographic film festival will feature indigenous cultures and diversity from all over the world with 42 films to be screened from Sept. 28-Oct. 2 in Taipei, festival organizers said Friday.

With the theme of "indigenous voices," the festival will present films from different cultures, ethnicities and identities from all over the world to highlight the importance of diversity and differences, said Lin Wen-ling, festival director of the 2007 Taiwan International Ethnographic Film Festival (TIEFF).

Indigenous directors Victor Masayesva, a North American Hopi tribe member, and Mayaw Biho, from Taiwan's Pangcah tribe, will be featured in a "Director in Focus" program with their opening films "Water Land Life -- Hopi Run to Mexico" and "Children in Heaven."

"Dead Birds, " a classic directed by American director Robert Gardner in 1964, and a 19-minute documentary film "Pas-taai - The Saisiyat Ceremony in 1936, " which was shot by Japanese Professor Nobuto Miyamoto in Taiwan during Japanese occupation, will be featured in the "Retrospective" program, Lin said.

Filmgoers will be able to appreciate stories from different places as well, Lin said, such as "Chichester's Choice." In this film, Brazilian-born Canadian director Simonee Chichester embarked upon a journey of identity in Brazil to look for her father.

TIEFF is the first biennial film festival in Asia that promotes outstanding documentary films made about cultures and ethnography. It is organized by the Taiwan Association of Visual Ethnography, a non-profit organization that introduces ethnography to the public.

Annual film festival focuses on global immigration

Taipei, Sept. 15 (CNA) An annual film festival featuring movies on peace-related subjects was launched Saturday in Taipei in the hope that the people of Taiwan can learn something about the global immigration phenomenon.

The 2007 Peace Film Festival will screen 20 movies in Taipei, Hsinchu and Taichung from Sept. 15-Oct. 19. The festival presents various viewpoints about immigration and conflicts among ethnic groups from different countries such as Taiwan, Israel, Turkey and Italy, said Chien Hsi-chieh, chief executive officer of the Peacetime Foundation of Taiwan, the festival organizer.

The closing film, The Nyonya's Taste of Life, directed by Wen Chih-yi, features the story of two female Indonesian caretakers and a Thai worker in Taiwan. Wen said she tried to tell the story from the perspective of migrant workers.

Nyonya is a Southeast Asian cuisine that mixes Taiwanese and Malaysian food ingredients, which symbolizes the co-existence of Taiwanese and new immigrants in Taiwan, Wen said.

Golden Door, the opening film, also addresses the struggle and experience of an Italian immigrant family in the United States.

"The world is experiencing the same immigration and conflicts of ethnic groups and Taiwan has a lot to learn. We have to learn how to treat new immigrants with respect and respect their basic human rights, " said well-known director Hou Hsiao-hsien.

"If Taiwan could develop a complete system or mechanism that takes care of all the new immigrants and migrant workers, it would be the best diplomacy for our government, " Hou said.

"You don't assimilate different ethnic groups or merge them into your own. You try to understand and accept different people, " Chien said.

Chien said the festival also used the theme of ethnic groups in 2002. Organizers decided to use the theme again this year because the conflicts between different ethnic groups have been heating up as the 2008 presidential election approaches.

PTS SIGNS COLLABORATION MEMO WITH GERMAN-FRENCH TELEVISION STATION

Taipei, June 30 (CNA) Taiwan's Public Television Service (PTS) signed a collaboration memorandum at a press conference Saturday with French-German public television station ARTE for program exchanges and further cooperation in the future.

ARTE, the first transnational public television station in Europe, which was launched in 1992, serves as a great model for PTS as it has been devoting most of its energy to culture and arts during its 15-year existence, winning accolades and becoming "the hope of television industry, " said PTS President Hu Yuan-huei before signing the memo with ARTE President Jerome Clemente.

"The ARTE experience" taught Taiwanese media valuable lessons in many ways, including television production, cultural diversity and reconciliation, Hu added.

ARTE, which boasts a NT$ 16 billion annual budget that comes exclusively from the French and German governments, had set from the beginning its goal to promote arts and culture, especially European culture, and encourage viewers to understand "how very different we are, and how similar at the same time, " said Clemente.

The birth of ARTE symbolized the reconciliation of Germany and France, which have fought each other for over a century, said Patricia Kortmann, Art/Event Coordinator of German Cultural Center in Taipei.

Jean-Claude Poimboeuf, Director of French Institute in Taipei, also pointed out that the creation of ARTE has been a small part of the European integration, and revealed just how large the scale of European integration is, and how hard Europe has tried to achieve unity.

Taiwanese director Hou Hsiao-hsien credited ARTE for its success in developing young film directors through funding and collaboration and hoped that the same efforts could be made at PTS, which has been collaborating with local young directors and making great efforts in promoting documentaries.

"Interaction between film makers and television during the collaboration process is still not running smoothly, but it isn't easy, and it has taken a lot for PTS to make it this far, "Hou said.

BIENNIAL CHILDREN'S FILM FESTIVAL PROMOTED

Taipei, June 20 (CNA) A biennial international children's television and film festival that will be held next April officially launched its promotion drive and began receiving film submissions from all over the world, festival organizers said Wednesday at a press conference.

The third Taiwan International Children's TV & Film Festival will be held April 4-8, 2008 in Taipei, said Hu Yuan-huei, president of Public Television Service (PTS) , the main organizer. Submissions will be accepted until Oct. 31.

So far, Hu said, there have been submissions from Taiwan, India, Sweden, Germany, France, the U.S. and the Philippines vying for six awards -- best dramatic feature, best animation, best documentary, best TV program, Taiwan award and special jury prize.

This event has been trying to find a balance between "adults' perspective and children's height, " said Wang Gun-yu, curator of the festival.

The festival was previously held in 2004 and 2006 and received more than 230 entries each time, Hu said, adding that the organizers expect a record-breaking number of entries for the next one.

The five-day event features screenings, side events and exhibitions, and "Kids as Directors" workshops for teachers and students to learn about filmmaking, in addition to awards with cash prizes.

Ma Chih-hsiang, a young actor making his first attempt at filmmaking, became the first local entry in the category of best dramatic feature with a film titled "Wish of the 10-year-old Dina, " the story of a young Bunun girl in Hualien.

"I tried to reveal the social status and problems of the indigenous people, and at the same time reverse local people's bias against indigenous people, " said Ma, who is also an aborigine.

PTS also announced 10 nominees for the "Kids as Directors" workshop in the press conference. The nominees were selected out of more than 40 project entries, said Lin Leh-chyun, director of the PTS International Department.

All the winning projects will be assisted with production resources from PTS when the filmmaking begins and will be screened during the festival, Lin said.

EXPERIMENTAL FILM TO PREMIERE AT TAIPEI FILM FESTIVAL

Taipei, June 19 (CNA) A 50-minute experimental film that will premiere at the Taipei Film Festival will try to create "poetry in motion, " the film's producer said Tuesday at a test screening.

The film, produced by the Public Television Service (PTS), is a collaboration of five established Taiwanese directors each of whom presents a 10-minute film inspired by famous poems and poets, said Sylvia Feng, producer of the PTS program Viewpoint and chief coordinator of the project.

The short films, directed by Tseng Wen-chen, Wu Mi-sen, Hou Chi-jan, Chu Hsien-jer and Mickey Chen will premiere June 24 at the annual Taipei Film Festival and will be played on Viewpoint June 29.

"You can find a lot of similarities between poetry and documentaries. However, it is extremely difficult to transform words into images, " according to Wu.

Other than Wu's, whose idea for his short animated film titled "Yearning" came from an assignment he gave his students years ago, all the films have been inspired by works of well-known Taiwanese poets, including Hsia Yu, Ling Yu and Sun Tse-ping.

The films include Tseng's "Keep Dancing, " Chu's "Genesis, Rehearsal, " Hou's "Shopping Cart Boy " and Chen's "Seeking Friends Along the Coast."

This is the second time PTS has produced experimental "poetry in motion" filmmaking, following huge success in 2003, Feng said, adding that the production of documentary films has seen a cross-over trend in recent years that combines the elements of animation, musical and image effects.

FIRST DOUBLE AMPUTEE MOUNT EVEREST CLIMBER VISITS TAIWAN

Taipei, May 18 (CNA) The first double amputee to scale Mount Everest arrived in Taiwan for a two-day visit Friday to send out his message to the handicapped that everyone is able to accomplish beyond one's limits if he is determined to do so.

Mark Inglis, a 47-year-old New Zealander who lost both legs 25 years ago, reached the summit of Mount Everest, the highest mountain in the world, May 15 last year. His Everest expedition was filmed for the Discovery series "Everest: Beyond the Limit."

"I can't describe how fantastic the experience was. I was very lucky, " Inglis said in the premiere ceremony of the six-part series, which documented the 40-day expedition.

"I came to realize that the only thing I lost was two legs, but I had an opportunity to live a different life, " said Inglis, who is now a motivational speaker.

Inglis was stuck in an ice cave in an intense blizzard for 14 days on Mount Cook in New Zealand in 1982 and lost both legs below the knee to frostbite. He went back to conquer the mountain, reaching the summit in 2002, and later started planning the Everest climb by training for the whole of 2005.

Inglis also met a group of Taiwanese athletes who will participate in the 2009 Deaflympics, to be hosted by Taipei City, and encouraged them to never give up. Inglis was a torch carrier in the 2000 Sydney Summer Olympics and won a silver medal for cycling in the Sydney Paralympics.

Inglis is scheduled to attend a seminar at the Taipei International Convention Center Saturday. An interactive exhibition on his Everest expedition will be displayed in the plaza of the Eslite Bookstore Xinyi Branch from May 18-June 15.

U.S. ENGINEER'S CONTRIBUTION TO POST-WAR TAIWAN DOCUMENTED IN FILM

Taipei, May 17 (CNA) A documentary in tribute of a U.S. engineer who made great contributions to the reconstruction and economic development of Taiwan during the early post-war years premiered in Taipei Thursday, bringing back memories of the 1950s.

The 60-minute documentary titled "Valery S. de Beausset and U.S. Aid to Taiwan, " is dedicated to de Beausset, who worked for J.G. White Engineering Corp. and served as both distributor and advisor for U.S. aid from 1950 - 1957 and was instrumental in drawing up a list of priorities for granting American aid.

J.G. White Corp. was the U.S. contractor that oversaw U.S. aid, which amounted to approximately US$ 1.48 billion from 1951-1965 with an annual average of US$ 100 million, under the authorization of the U.S. Economic Cooperation Administration (EAC) and Taiwan's Council on U.S. Aid (CUSA).

During his stay in Taiwan, De Beausset, who is now 92 and lives in Michigan, helped with the reconstruction of Taiwan's transportation system and the restoration of the productivity of Taiwan's national industries. He was directly involved with projects to expand electrical power dams, the reconstruction of the rail network, the constructions of harbors and airports, and gave advice on the development of more than 30 industrial enterprises.

"Taiwan once again plays an important part of our lives at this old age, " Lee-Tai de Beausset, one of two daughters representing the de Beausset family in the premier, read from a letter written by her 85-year-old mother Connie de Beausset, who also described her nine years in Taiwan as "the most exciting and rewarding of our early married life."

"Val's method of working was to stay behind the scenes. He never tried to take credit for any work he did with the very capable and dedicated Chinese engineers, businessmen and government officials. But there's no denying his gratification and deep pleasure to have this recognition and appreciation for his work, " she wrote.

The documentary is the first film made by the National Taiwan University Library (NTUL), which started contacting the de Beaussets in 2004 about the film. In 2006, the de Beaussets donated their collections of photographs and color films, which were all taken in the 1950's, as well as personal letters and news clippings, to the NTUL for the making of the documentary.

The film serves as both a tribute to the contributions of de Beausset and as a reminder to the people of Taiwan that "we owe what we have today to an American engineer who should have been recognized long ago, " said NTUL Director Hsiang Jieh.

2007 TAIPEI FILM FESTIVAL NOMINEES ANNOUNCED

Taipei, May 11 (CNA) The 2007 Taipei Film Festival released a list of 31 nominees in four categories ahead of one of the largest film festivals in Taiwan at press conference Friday.

Notable nominees at the festival, which will be held from June 22 to July 9 in Taipei, include "I Don't Want to Sleep Alone," directed by internationally-renowned director Tsai Ming-liang, "The Most Distant Course" and "Island Etude, " both of which were earlier nominated in the International New Talent Competition.

Promising local young directors are also being recognized, with Kao Bing-chuan having two films -- "The Soul of the Bread" and "A Starry Silent Night" -- on the list of nominees. Awards fall into four categories: best narrative films (12 films) , best documentary films (6), best experimental films (6) and best animated films (7).

Six documentary nominees, a genre which has been relatively successful in recent years in Taiwan, touch on a wide range of social topics, including beach preservation, journalism in Taiwan, home-rebuilding in Jhongliao, Nantou after the massive earthquake in 1999, and the Loshen Sanatorium, are also worth watching, said organizers.

All nominated films will be screened during the 18-day festival, one of the most important and high-profile international cultural events in Taiwan.

The festival attracts not only everyday moviegoers, but also film professionals. Of the approximately 100,000 attendees each year, the majority is made up of a decidedly young audience.

TAIWAN'S FUTURE BELONGS TO ITS PEOPLE: FILMMAKER

Taipei, Nov. 30 (CNA) Taiwan's future belongs to its people, and the people of Taiwan have the right to find "their real selves, " Taiwanese-American filmmaker Will Tiao said in an interview with CNA Thursday.

"Taiwanese have the right to find themselves... because they have never had the chance to develop and articulate their own selves, " Tiao said on the last day of a two-week promotion tour of a film titled Formosa Betrayed.

The movie, which Tiao plans to shoot next year and release in 2008, is about the story of the 1982 murder of a Taiwanese professor who was killed for speaking out for an independent and democratic Taiwan.

Many people in Taiwan have shown enormous support for a movie they think is long overdue, said Tiao, who was born in Kansas and comes from a family with strong pro-Taiwanese independence views.

While stressing his position as a foreigner and trying to stay away from political analysis during his visit, Tiao said he still believes Taiwan's future should belong to its people and that Taiwan is "a democracy that is coming into its own."

"Taiwan is slowly starting to realize that it does have to deal with the past if it wants to move toward becoming a normal country, " he said, adding that people of this generation are probably not as aware of history as they should be.

For a long time, Taiwanese have been told by others about who they are -- first the Japanese and then the Chinese. But Taiwanese have the right to define themselves and explore what Taiwan identity is, Tiao said.

People of Taiwan have to know and reconcile the past before moving forward. Only by doing so can they learn to deconstruct those arguments of "conventional wisdom" and look at the world in a new perspective, according to Tiao, who spent 10 years in Washington working for the Formosan Association for Public Affairs, a pro-independence lobby group.

FILMMAKER TO SHINE SPOTLIGHT ON TAIWAN

Taipei, Nov. 30 (CNA) Taiwanese-American filmmaker William Tiao was glad to learn of enormous positive response to a promotion tour of Taiwan for a movie planned for 2008 to be titled Formosa Betrayed, which looks to "shine the spotlight on Taiwan."

He told CNA Thursday that he was happy with the public and private support for the movie in Taiwan, adding that many local businessmen have shown interest in investing in the movie, which will have a US$12 million budget.

Inspired by a true story, Formosa Betrayed aims to "enlighten a global audience" with the story of the murder of a Taiwanese professor who was killed for his courage in speaking out for an independent and democratic Taiwan.

"I think this is a story that nobody else can tell except me, because most people don't know the story, " said Tiao, who gave up a political career in 2002 after 10 years in Washington, D.C. and moved to Los Angeles to start his entertainment business.

Born in Kansas, Tiao said he heard a lot of stories about Taiwan's White Terror period from his parents, who had always been active in Taiwan's independence and democracy movements. Tiao said he knew from the age of six that he would work in politics.

Frustrated by Taiwan's lack of international recognition and support during his time in Washington, Tiao decided to take a different path in 2002 and moved to Hollywood, where he learned from scratch about acting, writing and filmmaking and came up with the Formosa Betrayed plan two years ago.

With his childhood memories, political skills, and Taiwan's presidential election and Beijing Olympics in 2008, Tiao thinks 2008 will be perfect timing for the release of the film and hopes it will be a time for the whole world to take a good hard look at Taiwan and "start a discussion" on Taiwan's rich history and culture.

The movie also seeks to offer an opportunity for Taiwanese to "reconcile with the past before moving ahead" and to reflect on Taiwan's history "from a fresh perspective as a third-party observer, " Tiao added.

The movie takes its title from a book published in 1965 by former U.S. Consul George Kerr, who documented his observation of the 228 incident of 1947, in which the beating of a Taiwanese woman selling unlicensed cigarettes by then-ruling Kuomintang (KMT) police led to rioting that spread all over the island and was brutally crushed by KMT troops sent over from China -- the start of the KMT's infamous White Terror purge of "dissidents."