A Hong Kong film company has been ordered to return a government subsidy, with interest, over the controversy surrounding the 2008 movie Miao Miao (渺渺).
The teen romance movie was directed by Cheng Hsiao-tse (程孝澤), a young up-and-coming Taiwanese director, and was made in collaboration with Hong Kong-based Jet Tone Films. It starred Alice Ko (柯佳嬿) and Chang Yung-yung (張榕容).
Under an incentive program from the now-defunct Government Information Office (GIO) to help develop the domestic film industry, Jet Tone Films received a NT$4 million (US$134,934) subsidy for the production.
The government body revoked the subsidy and demanded the return of the money after the film was entered in the 2009 Melbourne International Film Festival as a Hong Kong, rather than Taiwanese, production.
Miao Miao was later pulled from the film festival along with films from China and Hong Kong to protest the festival’s screening of a documentary about exiled Uighur leader Rebiya Kadeer.
As the Miao Miao project had received government funding, the decision to pull out of the film festival sparked outrage in Taiwan.
Jet Tone Films argued that the movie was withdrawn to avoid it being entangled in political disputes.
Under the GIO’s subsidy program, a GIO spokesperson said Jet Tone Films signed a contract on Dec. 30, 2005, supporting filmmaking in Taiwan.
“The contract stated that upon the completion of the movie, Miao Miao shall enter international film festivals as a Taiwanese production. If not, the subsidy shall be returned,” the spokesperson said.
He said the film company had violated the contract, by listing Miao Miao as a Hong Kong entry, and also withdrew from the festival in conjunction with Chinese films, and therefore has no grounds for keeping the subsidy.
A representative from Jet Tone Films said the contract did not cover the Melbourne International Film Festival, adding that the GIO should not misinterpret the conditions of the contract.
Also, as Miao Miao was withdrawn prior to the opening of the film festival, the film actually did not participate in the event, the representative said.
“Therefore the GIO should not ask for a return of the subsidy because of the political circumstances,” he said.
The Supreme Court said the film company had clearly violated the terms of the contract and must return the NT$4 million plus accrued interest.
In a press release on Thursday, the studio said it regretted the court’s decision, but would not give up its efforts to make movies in Taiwan and to discover talented actors.
Additional reporting by Tsou Nien-tsu
The chief mechanic in an air force unit from which an F-16 and its pilot went missing last week died on Sunday evening in what might have been a suicide, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday. The ministry in a statement confirmed media reports that the mechanic, surnamed Huang (黃), “hurt himself” at a military barracks. Huang was taken to Hualien Armed Forces General Hospital after he was found unresponsive in the barracks, but doctors could not revive him, the ministry said. Huang served in the 26th Tactical Fighter Group of the 5th Tactical Fighter Wing, the same unit as the missing
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) last night said that it had no comment about reports that a senior US Navy officer had arrived in Taipei for a visit. Several media outlets reported that Rear Admiral Michael Studeman, director of intelligence of the US Indo-Pacific Command, arrived at Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) on a special charter flight at about 7pm. The schedule of a “senior US official” in Taiwan would not be made public, the ministry said in a news release, without confirming the visit or the official’s identity. Interactions and exchanges between Taiwan and the US are common, and visits
‘VIRUS DIPLOMACY’: The nation’s expertise in handling COVID-19 was among the reasons that it should not be excluded from the WHO, the European Parliament said The European Parliament this week passed resolutions that support Taiwan’s bid to participate in the WHO and its intention to negotiate a trade pact with Taiwan. During its plenary session from Monday to Thursday, the parliament approved resolutions on the foreign policy consequences of the COVID-19 outbreak and the EU’s trade policy, parts of which were viewed as friendly toward Taiwan by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In a statement yesterday, the ministry welcomed the passage of the resolutions and thanked the parliament for its support for Taiwan. In the first resolution, the parliament cited Beijing’s increasing threats to Taiwan, the crackdown on
NON-TYPICAL: Apart from Atsani, storms in autumn missed Taiwan, rainfall has been lower and average temperatures have been higher, a CWB forecaster said The current water shortage is expected to worsen in the next few months, with the Central Weather Bureau (CWB) yesterday forecasting a colder, dryer winter than normal. With winter starting next week, the bureau at a media briefing outlined the expected conditions through February and reviewed autumn’s significant weather events. Weather Forecast Center director Lu Kuo-cheng (呂國臣) said that autumn this year had three major characteristics: First, 13 tropical storms and typhoons formed from September to this month, up from 11 in the same period last year, Lu said. Apart from Atsani, for which sea and land alerts were issued in Taiwan, the tropical
RSS