I wasn’t sure which of the movie threads I could hi-jack for this post, so I decided to start a new thread. Mods: feel free to merge it with an appropriate thread.
After my disappointment about the website of the Golden Horse Film Festival (quoting a Taiwanese acquaintance: “But it has always been like that. What did you expect?”), I won’t put too high expectations in this new website. Still, maybe somebody else is interested in reading the article?
publish.gio.gov.tw/FCJ/current/03011052.html
[quote]New Web site touts Taiwan films
Publish Date:01/10/2003
Story Type:Arts & Culture;
Byline:Rita Fang
To help promote movies made in Taiwan, the ROC government launched a new Web site Dec. 24 that provides information about the island's movie industry. Although it is currently only available in the Chinese language, an English version of the site at [movie.gio.gov.tw](http://movie.gio.gov.tw) is planned for the near future. It is the culmination of six months of programming and information gathering on the part of private enterprise, government and members of academia. Their aim is to get people in Taiwan to appreciate homegrown films.
The site, called Taiwan Cinema, was launched by the Government Information Office--the office that publishes this newspaper. It provides news of the local movie industry, a function to search for information about new and old Taiwanese films, a discussion board for fans of Taiwanese cinema, an introduction to the GIO's motion picture department and a breakdown of government regulations pertaining to filmmaking in Taiwan. Film fans can also subscribe to a monthly e-mail newsletter.
The new site has links to other Web sites pertaining to Taiwanese cinema such as the home pages of the Chinese Taipei Film Archive and the Golden Horse Film Festival. There are also links to Web sites for local production companies, movie databases, online ticket-reservation services, information about the movie industry and schedules of show times at the island's theaters.
According to the GIO, there are few Web sites that offer information about Taiwanese films. Moreover, local filmmakers find it hard to secure production capital for their projects. In the face of Hollywood's big-budget blockbusters, locally made films simply cannot compete. They end up on screens for a shorter period of time and suffer from a lack of publicity.[/quote]
Iris