Taiwan may be forced to drop director Ang Lee's (
Acting director of the Government Information Office's movie department Chen Chun-jer (陳俊志) said Oscar organizers rejected Lust, Caution as Taiwan's entry because it failed to meet requirements that at least some of the movie's personnel in cinematography, music, recording and costume design be locals.
"We and Ang Lee are disappointed. Lee has a good chance of winning an Oscar. This movie was also popular in Taiwan," Chen said, adding that the government respected the Oscar requirements.
Lust, Caution had made NT$208 million (US$6.4 million) in Taiwan as of Sunday, a result normally achieved only by Hollywood blockbusters, according to its US production company Focus Features.
Stanley Hung (洪述堂), head of Taiwan's Motion Picture and Drama Association, the body that decides on the nation's best foreign film Oscar entry, said the group has appealed the rejection.
Oscars spokeswoman Teni Melidonian said that organizers refused to accept the movie because "an insufficient number of Taiwanese participated in the production of the film," violating a rule that requires foreign countries to certify their locals "exercised artistic control" over their submission.
Lee is Taiwanese, as is script writer Wang Hui-ling (王蕙玲), but cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto is Mexican and composer Alexandre Desplat is French.
The movie is a US-China-Taiwan co-production. Lee said earlier the film was budgeted at US$12 million but he fronted another US$2 million. It wasn't immediately clear how much Taiwanese money is in the film.
Lee won the best director Oscar for the gay romance Brokeback Mountain last year, and his kung fu hit Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon won best foreign film for Taiwan in 2001.
Lust, Caution, about the relationship between an undercover activist and the Japanese-allied intelligence chief in World War II-era Shanghai, won the top Golden Lion prize at Venice.
Taiwan may replace Lust, Caution with director Chen Huai-en's (
FIREPOWER: On top of the torpedoes, the military would procure Kestrel II anti-tank weapons systems to replace aging license-produced M72 LAW launchers Taiwan is to receive US-made Mark 48 torpedoes and training simulators over the next three years, following delays that hampered the navy’s operational readiness, the Ministry of National Defense’s latest budget proposal showed. The navy next year would acquire four training simulator systems for the torpedoes and take receipt of 14 torpedoes in 2027 and 10 torpedoes in 2028, the ministry said in its budget for the next fiscal year. The torpedoes would almost certainly be utilized in the navy’s two upgraded Chien Lung-class submarines and the indigenously developed Hai Kun, should the attack sub successfully reach operational status. US President Donald Trump
TPP RALLY: The clashes occurred near the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall on Saturday at a rally to mark the anniversary of a raid on former TPP chairman Ko Wen-je People who clashed with police at a Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) rally in Taipei on Saturday would be referred to prosecutors for investigation, said the Ministry of the Interior, which oversees the National Police Agency. Taipei police had collected evidence of obstruction of public officials and coercion by “disorderly” demonstrators, as well as contraventions of the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法), the ministry said in a statement on Sunday. It added that amid the “severe pushing and jostling” by some demonstrators, eight police officers were injured, including one who was sent to hospital after losing consciousness, allegedly due to heat stroke. The Taipei
NO LIVERPOOL TRIP: Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting, who won a gold medal in the boxing at the Paris Olympics, was embroiled in controversy about her gender at that event Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu-ting (林郁婷) will not attend this year’s World Boxing Championships in Liverpool, England, due to a lack of response regarding her sex tests from the organizer, World Boxing. The national boxing association on Monday said that it had submitted all required tests to World Boxing, but had not received a response as of Monday, the departure day for the championships. It said the decision for Lin to skip the championships was made to protect its athletes, ensuring they would not travel to the UK without a guarantee of participation. Lin, who won a gold medal in the women’s 57kg boxing
The US has revoked Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) authorization to freely ship essential gear to its main Chinese chipmaking base, potentially curtailing its production capabilities at that older-generation facility. American officials recently informed TSMC of their decision to end the Taiwanese chipmaker’s so-called validated end user (VEU) status for its Nanjing site. The action mirrors steps the US took to revoke VEU designations for China facilities owned by Samsung Electronics Co and SK Hynix Inc. The waivers are set to expire in about four months. “TSMC has received notification from the US Government that our VEU authorization for TSMC Nanjing
RSS