« French audiences
like Taiwanese cinema! »
 

Posted on 17.10.2025

At the MIFC, Taiwan is one of the greatest ambassadors of Asian cinema. We spoke with Wayne Chen-Wei Hong, international cooperation coordinator at the Taiwan Film and Audiovisual Institute (TFAI). 

Wayne Chen-Wei Hong 
© Laura Lépine

What does the MIFC mean to you?

We’ve had a stand at the MIFC since 2023 to promote classic Taiwanese films, as well as more recent works. We currently have 905 digitised prints and 75 restored films. French audiences love Taiwanese cinema! Through these films, we also want to showcase our culture and history. It’s  important to preserve this heritage. Between the 1960s and 1980s, more than 1,000 films were produced in Taiwan, of which only 200 have been preserved. Our country is known for being a beautiful island, but our history also involves periods of colonisation. We experienced heavy censorship between 1949 and 1987; filmmakers had to be quite creative to get their ideas across. Censorship also prevented films from being made in the Taiwanese language, which was also banned in schools. It is therefore very important for us to defend films in our language.

How do you put together the catalogue of films shown?

Every year, we restore around ten films. The most important one this year is The Game They Called Sex(Huang se gu shi, 1988) starring Maggie Cheung! Among the ten works, we always aim to include two documentaries and two films in the Taiwanese language. We start preparing the catalogue at least a year in advance. Once the films have been chosen, we assess the possibility of restoration to determine whether we have the necessary technology. This year, we are also offering a selection of films from the period 1984-2020, divided into three categories: women's perspectives, LGBTQ+ and Taiwanese animated films.

   Interview by Laura Lépine