The closure of Taipei's art-house movie theater President Cinema (總統戲院) and the temporary shutdown of the Majestic Theater (真善美戲院) in Ximending (西門町) last year sent frantic waves through local independent film distributors and art-house movie goers worrying that there would be no space left for non-Hollywood cinema. But in the eyes of veteran art-house theater manager Monica Hsu (徐金珠), the problem is not so much about the lack of screening spaces as it is about the increasing numbers of independent film distributors cramming the small market. And the market is only expanding at a painfully slow pace.
Hsu, who is the manager of the Marketing and Sales Department of Central Pictures (中影) and is in charge of the programming at the Majestic Theater and Spring Cinema Galaxy (絕色影城), which screen independent films, shares a similar view to Wang. She said the number of art-house moviegoers hasn't enjoyed significant growth over the years and as a result, theater venues like Spring Cinema Galaxy have to screen commercial films to make up losses incurred on non-mainstream films.
"But as more and more independent film distributors come into the market in recent years, box-office receipts are diluted among them and things appear worse than it actually is," Hsu said.
POP Cinema's Robert Bresson, Hereafter (羅伯布列松．然後) at Spot finishes today and moves to the Kaohsiung Film Archive (高雄市電影圖書館). Screenings begin Tuesday and end on Jan. 21. For more information, visit www.spot.org.tw.
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