Monga (艋舺), the Taiwanese gangster movie that depicts the evolution of Taipei’s Wanhua District (萬華), will receive at least NT$40 million (US$1.3 million) in subsidies from the government in recognition of the movie’s remarkable performance at the box office.
Monga grossed more than NT$200 million at the box office during its first two weeks of release in Taiwan, entitling its producers to hefty incentives, said Chen Chih-kuan (陳志寬), director of the Government Information Office’s (GIO’s) Department of Motion Pictures, at a GIO reception in Berlin.
Chen said that under the government’s program of special incentives for the film industry, any locally produced movie with box office receipts exceeding NT$50 million entitles its makers to receive 20 percent of its revenues as a subsidy for the company’s next production.
Taiwan is also encouraging international movie producers to shoot their films in Taiwan, he said, noting that subsidies for such projects can reach as high as 30 percent of the production costs.
The GIO office in Berlin held a “Taiwan Night” on Tuesday evening to introduce members of Taiwan’s delegation at the Feb. 11 to Feb. 21 Berlin International Film Festival to cultural and entertainment circles.
The actors playing the leading roles in Monga, Mark Chao (趙又廷) and Ethan Ruan (阮經天), were among the guests at the party, which was attended by film industry people from all over the world.
In other film news, Formosa Betrayed, a story about political intrigue and murder during the White Terror era, will open in selected cities in the US on Feb. 26.
The movie tells the fictional story of the murder of a Taiwanese-American professor on US soil, and is based on the deaths of two real-life people.
Chen Wen-chen (陳文成), a Carnegie Mellon University professor and critic of the Taiwan government, died under suspicious circumstances during a visit to Taiwan in 1981.
Journalist Henry Liu (劉宜良), whose pen name was Jiang Nan (江南), was killed by gangsters allegedly working for Taiwanese government security forces in Daly City, California, in 1984, after he wrote an unflattering biography of former president Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國), the son of dictator Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石).
James Van Der Beek, of Dawson’s Creek fame, stars as an FBI agent investigating the murder.
Financiers of the film, largely from the Taiwanese-American community, hope the movie can give US audiences a different perspective on Taiwan.
“The only thing a lot of people know about Taiwan is, ‘Made in Taiwan.’ They don’t know the story behind it — the suffering and willpower of the people to form a democracy,” one of the financiers said in an interview with the Silicon Valley Mercury News.
The film’s makers are also negotiating a Taiwan release for the film sometime later this year.
Considering that most countries issue more than five denominations of banknotes, the central bank has decided to redesign all five denominations, the bank said as it prepares for the first major overhaul of the banknotes in more than 24 years. Central bank Governor Yang Chin-lung (楊金龍) is expected to report to the Legislative Yuan today on the bank’s operations and the redesign’s progress. The bank in a report sent to the legislature ahead of today’s meeting said it had commissioned a survey on the public’s preferences. Survey results showed that NT$100 and NT$1,000 banknotes are the most commonly used, while NT$200 and NT$2,000
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday reported the first case of a new COVID-19 subvariant — BA.3.2 — in a 10-year-old Singaporean girl who had a fever upon arrival in Taiwan and tested positive for the disease. The girl left Taiwan on March 20 and the case did not have a direct impact on the local community, it said. The WHO added the BA.3.2 strain to its list of Variants Under Monitoring in December last year, but this was the first imported case of the COVID-19 variant in Taiwan, CDC Deputy Director-General Lin Ming-cheng (林明誠) said. The girl arrived in Taiwan on
ANNUAL EVENT: Two massive Pokemon balloons are to be set up in Daan Park, with an event zone operating from 10am to 6pm This year’s Taipei Floral Picnic is to be held at Daan Park today and tomorrow, featuring an exclusive Pokemon Go event, a themed food market, a coffee rave picnic area and stage performances, the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism said yesterday. Two massive Pokemon balloons are to be set up in the park as attractions, with an exclusive event zone operating from 10am to 6pm, it said. Participants who complete designated tasks on-site would have a chance to receive limited-edition souvenirs, it added. People could also try the newly launched game Pokemon Pokopia in the trial area, the department said. Three PokeStops are
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