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| The 2007 Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival PHOTOS: LIBERTY TIMES |
Lust, Caution (色,戒) swept the 44th Golden Horse Awards (金馬獎) last weekend, putting many film professionals, critics and audiences in a festive mood. The raft of accolades may, however, also temper worries that Taiwanese cinema is being marginalized from the country's own competition, which has in recent years been dominated by works from China, Hong Kong and Singapore.
To many observers, internationalization of the Chinese-language equivalent of the Oscars seems to be inevitable if the awards are to maintain their competitiveness and be reinvented as a top notch event. Others feel that the Golden Horse, sponsored by the Government Information Office (新聞局), has drifted further away from the local film industry than it should.
From foal to horse
The early days of the Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival (TGHFF, 台北金馬國際影展), which leads up to the awards ceremony, were politically slanted. Its inception in 1962 was, in large part, made in celebration of former president Chiang Kai-shek's (蔣介石) birthday, according to Angelika Wang (王耿瑜), who has headed both the competition and film festival and was a Golden Horse jury member for several years. It wasn't until 1990 that the TGHFF executive committee was established.
By the mid 1990s, the slumping local film industry, effects of globalization and impending handover of Hong Kong to China prompted the Golden Horse, previously reserved for films made in Taiwan and Hong Kong, to open its doors to all Chinese-language films. The decision was approved in a public hearing composed of local journalists, film professionals and scholars in 1997, said Li Ya-mei (李亞梅), who headed the competition for nine years.
The Chinese government granted co-productions permission to enter the contest around three years ago, but films wholly financed by Chinese capital are still barred. Candidate films are often withdrawn due to political intervention, Li said. The issue, however, came to prominence this year when organizers were "a bit too careless and let exclusively Chinese films in. Their withdrawals made headlines," Li said.
Jury committee expanded
Another controversy emerged when this year's jury committee was to include members from the trade unions, which have ceased to attract younger generations of filmmakers as the local industry continues to decline. Many trade union members retired from making movies decades ago and their understanding of cinema is often seen as outdated, if not completely obsolete.
"The union members' tastes are inevitably inclined to conservatism. I think it is part of the reason why this year's nominations were dominated by Chinese cinema rather than the genre films of Hong Kong," Li said.
To Peggy Chiao (焦雄屏), a former Golden Horse festival and awards chairwoman, however, opening the jury to the new members may be the price that must be paid to reinvigorate the unions. She believes participating in the event can help union members keep up with the international film environment and thus help the local industry.
Finding a stride
As the oldest and only Chinese-language cinema competition in Asia, the Golden Horse Awards have been a well-respected model for other similar film festivals such as the Hong Kong Film Awards and China's Golden Rooster Awards, both of which are limited to local works.
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