Golden Horse Award-winning director Tsai Ming-liang (蔡明亮) was on Wednesday made an officer of the Order of Arts and Letters from the French government for his contribution to the development of cultural cooperation between France and Taiwan in the field of cinema.
Tsai was honored at a ceremony at the Bureau Francais de Taipei and received his insignia from bureau director Oliver Richard.
“When people saw the movie The Arrival of a Train at La Coitat Station directed by the Lumiere brothers, they were afraid and scattered everywhere,” Tsai said in his speech.
Photo provided by Yuanzi
“For some reason I jumped on this train, not knowing where I wanted to go. I could only imagine that it would take me somewhere wonderful. The train was moving neither fast nor slowly and swung from side to side, leaving behind white smoke. But I enjoy the ride very much,” he said.
Tsai thanked the French government for its “embrace and acceptance” and viewed his strong ties with France with “tears of happiness.”
Established by the French minister of culture in 1957, the Order of Arts and Letters has been awarded to many individuals from around the world who have made significant contributions in the fields of art and literature.
The order has three levels: knight, officer and the top level of commander.
Aside from Tsai, Hong Kong director Johnnie To (杜琪峰) and producer Shi Nansun (施南生) are two other Asian filmmakers who have been recognized with this honor.
Tsai was made a knight in the Order of Arts and Letters in 2004.
All the feature-length movies directed by Tsai have been shown in French movie theaters.
Born in Malaysia, Tsai is known as one of the “Second New Wave” film directors of Taiwanese cinema.
Among Tsai’s features, the 1994 film Vive L’Amore (愛情萬歲) won three Golden Horse Awards and a Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival. The River (河流), released in 1997, won a Silver Bear-Special Jury Prize at the 47th Berlin Film Festival.
Tsai also received the FIPRESCI Prize during the 1998 Cannes Film Festival for his film The Hole (洞).
Tsai directed the 2009 film Face (臉), a joint Taiwanese/French production. It was nominated for the Golden Palm at Cannes in 2009.
Last year, Tsai also obtained a Golden Horse Award for best director for his film Stray Dogs (郊遊).
Starting on Aug. 29, Stray dogs is to be shown for two months at the National Taipei University of Education.
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
A magnitude 4.1 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 2:23pm today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was 5.4 kilometers northeast of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 34.9 km, according to the CWA. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was the highest in Hualien County, where it measured 2 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 1 in Yilan county, Taichung, Nantou County, Changhua County and Yunlin County, the CWA said. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS